Lassana Cisse murder trial: Former soldier acquitted of murder but convicted on two other charges
More than seven years after Ivorian national Lassana Cisse Souleymane was shot dead in Malta, a jury has acquitted former soldier Lorin Scicluna of his murder. The 29-year-old was also cleared of attempted murder charges involving three other African men, but found guilty of grievously injuring one of them and driving without registration plates.
Former Armed Forces of Malta soldier Lorin Scicluna was found not guilty of murdering Lassana Cisse Souleymane on Sunday, 1 November 2026, following a trial that began on 19 October.
The nine-member jury returned an eight-to-one verdict acquitting Scicluna of the murder of Cisse, a 42-year-old Ivorian father of two who was shot dead while walking home along Triq il-Gebel, between Hal Far and Birzebbuga, on 6 April 2019.
According to reports by Times of Malta and MaltaToday, Scicluna was also acquitted of the attempted murders of Mohammed Jallow from The Gambia and Ibrahim Bah from Guinea, who were shot and injured on the same night.
He was additionally cleared of the attempted murder of May Malimi, a Chadian national who was seriously injured after being struck by a vehicle in February 2019.
However, the jury found Scicluna guilty of grievously injuring Malimi, by six votes to three, and unanimously convicted him of driving a vehicle without registration plates.
In total, Scicluna was acquitted of seven of the nine charges against him.
Racial hatred at the centre of the prosecution's case
Throughout the trial, prosecutors maintained that the attacks were racially motivated, arguing that Scicluna and fellow former soldier Francesco Fenech had deliberately targeted Black migrants.
During his testimony, Scicluna admitted that he and Fenech had previously driven around Hal Far looking for Black people to harass. He also acknowledged driving the vehicle involved in the April 2019 shooting but insisted that Fenech had fired the shots that killed Cisse and injured Jallow and Bah.
The prosecution challenged his account, pointing to changes in his statements during police questioning, the use of his vehicle and the firearm recovered from beneath his bed.
Prosecutors argued that Scicluna could not avoid responsibility by attributing the shooting to Fenech.
The defence maintained that Fenech had been the gunman and that the evidence was insufficient to establish Scicluna's guilt beyond reasonable doubt.
Jury reaches verdict after hours of deliberation
Before the jury retired to deliberate on Sunday morning, presiding judge Natasha Galea Sciberras reviewed the evidence presented throughout the trial and reminded jurors of the presumption of innocence.
After several hours of deliberation, jurors acquitted him of murder, all three attempted murder charges, the firearm-related charge and the bodily harm charges involving Jallow and Bah.
The two convictions concerned the grievous injuries suffered by Malimi and the use of a vehicle without registration plates.
Separate proceedings against Francesco Fenech remain pending
The verdict concludes Scicluna's trial but does not bring the criminal proceedings arising from Cisse's killing to an end.
Francesco Fenech, another former Armed Forces of Malta soldier implicated in the case, faces separate criminal proceedings.
Cisse's killing in April 2019 sparked widespread public outrage and protests against racism in Malta. The case has been widely described as the country's first alleged racially motivated murder.
Seven years later, the judicial process concerning his death remains unfinished.
This article was compiled by African Media Association Malta from court reporting published by Times of Malta, MaltaToday and other Maltese news outlets on 1 November 2026.
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