A man who told police he was beaten and sexually assaulted said he was offered money after four men, including Jordan Azzopardi and Mohamed Ali Ahmed Elmushraty, known as Lilu King, were charged over the alleged attack.
"I don't want to take any money they are offering me... I am scared they will come after my girlfriend and me," the victim wrote in an email to Police Inspector Wayne Buhagiar on 5 May.
The email was read out in court after the victim said he did not wish to testify during proceedings before Magistrate Lara Lanfranco.
The victim also said relatives in Libya and his employers feared for their safety. Buhagiar told the court he advised the man to speak to a lawyer, but no one from the legal aid office had contacted him.
After hearing the contents of the email, the magistrate ordered that the victim be assisted by a legal aid lawyer and that Victim Support contact him. She also instructed the prosecution to investigate allegations that the victim had been approached directly or indirectly.
The compilation of evidence concerns four men charged in connection with the alleged unlawful detention and assault of the victim.
The victim claims he was lured to a butcher shop in San Ġwann on 21 April, tied with cable ties, beaten unconscious, robbed, threatened with a knife and sexually assaulted with objects while being filmed.
The accused are Azzopardi, 36, Abdulmomen Abudagil, 23, Elmushraty, 34, and Noureddin Amer Miloud Almahmoudi, 39, a shop worker.
Azzopardi and Abudagil are charged with sexual assault, theft, unlawful detention, bodily harm, extortion, violent coercion and other offences. Azzopardi alone also faces a charge of attempted homicide and breaching bail conditions. Elmushraty and Almahmoudi are accused of complicity in several of the same crimes. All four deny the charges.
Earlier in the sitting, the victim appeared via video conference while the accused watched from the courtroom.
"I don't really want to talk about this," he told the court, describing the past month as extremely difficult.
"I lost friends. I lost many relatives... it was very difficult for me to sleep."
Magistrate Lanfranco told him his testimony was important to ensure justice was served, but the victim replied that discussing the case had a severe impact on his mental health.
"I want to go back to my life and forget everything," he said.
When asked whether he remembered speaking to police and medical staff after the alleged attack, he said he did, but declined to answer further questions, including whether someone had approached him.
The magistrate then returned to the courtroom, where Inspector Buhagiar read out the email. After discussions between the defence and prosecution, the court ordered that the victim testify in a future sitting with legal assistance.
The prosecution is being led by Inspectors Wayne Buhagiar and James Turner, assisted by lawyers Jurgen Dalli, Darleen Grima and Danika Vella. The accused are represented by lawyers Franco Debono, Marion Camilleri, Herman Mula, Adreana Zammit, Matthew Xuereb, Jacob Magri and Arthur Azzopardi.