A man from Libya has been remanded in custody after being charged with the rape of his ex-wife.

The 30-year-old man, who by court order, cannot be named, was arraigned before magistrate Gabriella Vella on Thursday morning. He was accused of raping the woman, with whom the man has children, in his Sliema apartment on Christmas Eve. The man also stands accused of performing a non-consensual sexual act on the woman and threatening her.

The man denied the charges. Bail was requested.

Inspector John Spiteri told the court that even whilst in police custody, the accused had been making phone calls to the woman and trying to interfere with witnesses. Moreover, he had expressed an intention to leave Malta for China, said the prosecution.

After the woman had reported the assault, the accused had been called in for questioning and warned not to approach the woman. But not fifteen minutes after leaving the Inspector’s office, the man had gone to the victim’s residence in Marsaxlokk. The woman had called the police, asking what to do, he said.

The court said that as the man appeared to have plans to leave Malta and was untrustworthy when ordered not to contact the victim, it would be refusing bail.

Magistrate Vella upheld the prosecution’s request that the man’s name be withheld from publication due to the fact that the victim was his ex-wife and the mother of his children.

A temporary protection order was also issued in favour of the woman, with the court warning the man that if he tried to speak to her again he faced a €7,000 fine and prison. On his part, the accused said he had no wish to contact the woman and surrendered his mobile phone to the police.

In view of the fact that the accused had expressed suicidal ideation, the court ordered that he be held at the forensic ward of Mount Carmel Hospital.