Image by Getty Images

(JTA) — The case of a Maltese European Union official accused of shouting anti-Semitic hate speech at an EU employee and assaulting her has come to trial two years after the incident occurred.

EU administrator Stefan Grech allegedly beat a senior employee over the head with a plaque commemorating Italian dictator Benito Mussolini while calling her “a dirty Jew” and saying “Hitler should have finished off the Jews.” He also reportedly had made comments about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

A complaint against him was filed at the time with Brussels police by the Belgian League Against Anti-Semitism, or LBCA.

Antisemitism Decoded

Arno Rosenfeld helps you separate the signal from the noise about antisemitism and understand current debates over Jewish safety.

Terms(Required)

I agree to the Forward's Terms of Service and Privacy Policy

Email(Required)

Grech was not present at a preliminary hearing this week, LBCA head Joel Rubinfeld told the Times of Malta, leading the judge to say that it showed a lack of respect toward the courts.

In an interview with the Times of Malta, Grech denied the account in the complaint. He was not suspended from his job over the incident. Grech also said the case had affected him so much he had taken several months of sick leave and sought counseling from a psychologist.

“There was an incident. I had too much to drink and got into an argument, but I am no racist and I did not lash out in the way that is being alleged,” he said.

Rubinfeld told the newspaper that the incident had been captured on a surveillance camera and that journalists were in possession of the tape.

The Forward is free to read, but it isn’t free to produce

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward.

Now more than ever, American Jews need independent news they can trust, with reporting driven by truth, not ideology. We serve you, not any ideological agenda.

At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S. on the impact of the war, rising antisemitism and polarized discourse.

Readers like you make it all possible. Support our work by becoming a Forward Member and connect with our journalism and your community.

This is a great time to support independent Jewish journalism you rely on. Make a gift today!

—  Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO

Support our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.

$90 $180

$360

Other amount