Two western Sydney brothers charged over a Canberra nightclub Kokmo’s brawl that ended with murder of Comanchero’s Canberra commander Pitasoni Ulavalu have been released on bail.
Matthew Kupu, 22, and Osaisi Avanua Sydney Kupu, 23, both appeared in the ACT Magistrates Court on Tuesday, following their arrests in August.
Both were granted bail on strict conditions to live at a home in Ermington, east of Parramatta.
The brothers have both been charged with affray, and have pleaded not guilty, they are not accused of stabbing Pitasoni Ulavalu or the other Comanchero bikie injured in the scuffle.
The Kupu brothers’ defence lawyer on Tuesday told the court it would take weeks to get across the mammoth police investigation into the brawl.
Detectives interviewed dozens of witnesses who had packed the nightclub in the early hours of Sunday, 19 July, when Mr Ulavalu was allegedly fatally stabbed by Frederick Elijah Mercy Tuifua, 26, of Silverwater.
Tuifua, who also appeared in court on Tuesday has pleaded not guilty to murder, and his case appears destined to be heard alongside the five men charged with affray.
Of those five, two men’s identities are banned from being published because of serious concerns about their safety.
The mens’ cases appear destined for a joint trial in the Supreme Court.
Another of the men charged with affray, Maximilian Ellis Kurt Budack — who was shot in a suspected reprisal attack following the brawl — also faced court on Tuesday but did not apply for bail.
All of the men charged over the incident return to court in mid January.
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Based on The Daily Telegraph story