Magistrate Joe Mifsud has abstained from hearing the compilation of evidence against Aleksandar Stojanovic, who has been charged with the murder of an Egyptian man in Gharb, Gozo, in 2018.

The Magistrate said he was abstaining because he had been involved in magisterial inquiry into the shooting.

Walid Salah Abdel Motaleb Mohammed, 43, was shot twice, in the neck and chest, in San Dimitri Road in Gharb on 15 January 2018. He was shot with a shotgun at very close range.

The police said on Wednesday they had solved the case after analysing CCTV footage of the victim and after they received new information. The suspect was arrested on 10 May.

He was arraigned in the Gozo Courts on Wednesday evening, where he was accused of murder, of carrying a weapon without the necessary licence, of driving a car without a licence or necessary insurance, and of being in possession of a vehicle which was not properly registered with Transport Malta.

He pleaded not guilty but did not make a request for bail.  

The compilation of evidence will start on 28 May. It will be presided over by Magistrate Donatella Frendo Dimech.

Net News reports that investigators are expected to explain how they identified Stojanovic as the suspect and the circumstances leading up to his arrest.

Lawyers Franco Debono and Mario Camilleri are representing Stojanovic. The prosecution is being led by Superintendent Keith Arnaud and Inspector Bernard Charles Spiteri, together with lawyers Anthony Vella and Etienne Savona appeared for the State Advocate's Office.