Disgraced former actor John Suda has dropped a criminal lawsuit he had instigated against a young man who had described him as “the Harvey Weinstein of Malta” in a Facebook post.

Suda reported Jamie Vella to the police last year after he wrote a Facebook post criticising the organisers of the Malta Fashion Awards for inviting the veteran actor to help host the event, despite him facing a court case for sexual assault.

Suda was convicted a few months later and was handed a one-year prison sentence, suspended for two years.

The police promptly charged the young man with defaming Suda, but the case was killed in its cradle after Suda announced in court today, in front of magistrate Ian Farrugia, that he intends to withdraw the charges.

John Suda at last year’s Malta Fashion Awards

Two days ago, Suda, best known for roles in Maltese sitcoms such as Simpatiċi, had his teacher’s warrant officially revoked in light of his conviction in October 2018.

Suda had been found guilty of assaulting a 22-year-old actress during a personal training session in a massage parlour he was using as his studio. While working on the young actress’ acting techniques, Suda asked her to wear a blindfold and strip naked before reciting her lines. She was reluctant to do so, and told him so, but Suda allegedly told her that it would help her gain confidence and lose her inhibitions, which was essential for a professional actress.

At one point, he placed his penis in her mouth and kissed her face and neck, all the time telling her to recite her lines. Suda told her that her character would have sex with an older man in one of the episodes, and when she pointed out such a scene wasn’t in the script, the veteran actor accused her of being “stiff”.

Suda then removed the girl’s blindfold and instructed her to lie on top of him and “pretend to raise him from the dead”. When she only laid down beside him, Suda pulled her on top on his body, started touching her and instructed her to recite lines to his penis.

He then moved her mouth near his genitals and ordered her to recite her lines again. When she refused, he grabbed her head again and pushed it towards his genitals, ending the session there.

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Tim Diacono

Tim is interested in the rapid evolution of human society and is passionate about justice, human rights and cutting-edge political debates. You can follow him on Instagram or Twitter/X at @timdiacono or reach out to him at [email protected]