Man claims breach of right to fair trial

One of the four men charged with aiding and abetting in the bribery of two judges yesterday claimed his right to a fair trial had been prejudiced.

Dr Chris Soler, on behalf of Joseph Zammit, requested Magistrate Abigail Lofaro to refer the case to the First Hall of the Civil Court in its constitutional jurisdiction.

The request was made in the compilation of evidence against Zammit, 57, Anthony Grech Sant, 55, Mario Camilleri, 40, and his son Pierre, 20. The four men are pleading not guilty to trading in influence, aiding and abetting in the bribery of former judges Noel Arrigo and Patrick Vella and conspiring to commit a crime.

Zammit is also pleading not guilty to defrauding Mario Camilleri and/or other people out of some Lm5,000 and a second count of trading in influence.

Zammit's lawyer yesterday referred to the October 29 constitutional judgment in which Mr Justice Anton Depasquale, Mr Justice Albert J. Magri and Mr Justice Geoffrey Valenzia ruled that the judges' right to a fair trial had been violated on the basis of the violation of the presumption of innocence at a news conference given by the prime minister on August 1, 2002.

(The constitutional court, however, concluded that as the judges' fundamental human right to trial by an independent and impartial court had not been violated there was no reason to halt the criminal proceedings against the former judges.)

Dr Soler noted that during the press conference the prime minister had informed the public that there were third parties involved in the judges' bribery and eventually the third parties were indicted.

He claimed that as the link between the judges' case and his client's case was manifest and apparent, implying that the judges were guilty also implied that any accomplice in the alleged offence was guilty, whether his involvement was direct or indirect. Therefore, he claimed that if the judges' right to a fair trial had been breached, so had Zammit's.

Arrigo, 52, of Siggiewi and Vella, 58, of San Pawl tat-Targa are pleading not guilty to two counts of bribery and one of revealing official secrets in connection with a judgment handed down by the Court of Criminal Appeal against drug trafficker Mario Camilleri on July 5, 2002. The charges are aggravated by the fact that they were public officers in duty bound to prevent crime.