A key witness who was a guest in the apartment at the time of the the murder of Dragoljub Krstic by Bulgarian Amil Atanasov, was pointed out to have been drunk at the time of the stabbing and hungover when he gave his statement. This was said by Mr Atanasov’s lawyer, Dr Malcolm Mifsud while he was continuing the defence’s closing arguments as the trial by jury continued this morning.

In his statement, Dani Krstski had said that the victims, Dragoljub Krstic who was murdered, and Zoran Jocic who suffered a broken nose, were leaving the flat when the accused rushed out of the apartment. The witness subsequently heard a grunt. The defence argued that the obvious implications of the statement are that Mr Atanasov “attacked Dragoljub for no reason whatsoever”. However, keeping in mind that the accused was sober at the time, Dr Mifsud asked the court who they’re going to believe, “A person who was clearly uncomfortable testifying before you, as shown by his body language; or my client?”

Other inaccuracies in the statement were pointed out by the defence lawyer such as the fact that the witness had said that all five of the men had gone upstairs to the flat, which leaves room for vagueness regarding how the accused opened the door from the inside. It was also said by Mr Krstski that they were drunk, albeit not entirely.

Dr Mifsud asked the court to compare the witness’s jumbled statement with the coherent one of his client who was sober and “clear on what happened even during his interrogation from day one.” It was said that the accused had been saying that he had been holding the knife, and that he never stabbed Mr Krstic since the very beginning.

According to the defence, the accused’s flatmate, Goran Manojlovski witnessed the scene where Mr Atanasov was lifted off the ground and subsequently beaten repeatedly by the men in the flat, “like something out of a film.”

The lawyer, speaking on behalf of the accused said that he had initially gone over to scare them “in the hope that they would go away” as Mr Atanasov wasn’t able to cut off the electricity to the apartment, as the landlord eventually did. Granted that the accused could have called the police, but at best all they would have done was to tell the rowdy bunch to keep it down before leaving.

It was said that the men were drunk and out of control, to the point of beating the accused twice and then dragging him out of his own home. The victim did not know that Mr Atanasov was carrying a knife when he started to strangle him.

As a result, “the natural reaction of a person being strangled is to bend backwards, away from the assailant, who would then bend over him to maintain the pressure.” It was at the point that Mr Krstic “rested on the knife” and was accidentally stabbed to death.

In conclusion, the defence stated that “this was not revenge”.

Judge Antonio Mizzi presiding.  Assistant Attorney General Philip Galea Farrugia and lawyer Elaine Mercieca are prosecuting. Lawyer Malcolm Mifsud is defence counsel to Mr Atanasov.