Updated: Three convicted of bribing judges
(Adds background)
Mario Camilleri , 46, (known as l-imniehru), his son Pierre, 20, of St Paul's Bay and Anthony John Grech Sant, 55 of Attard were this morning convicted of being accomplices in the bribery of (then) Chief Justice Noel Arrigo and then judge Patrick Vella in July 2002.
Magistrate Audrey Demicoli found Mario Camilleri guilty of bribery and sentenced him to four years in jail.
Pierre Camilleri and Anthony Grech Sant were each jailed for three years. All three have appealed.
The court said it had considered the gravity of these crimes and their consequences on the judicial system and the confidence which the people should have in it. The court said it was imposing the maximum sentence available to it at the time when the crime was committed.
The bribery case was discovered by the Security Service through telephone intercepts and involved a judgement by the Criminal Appeals Court on which Chief Justice Arrigo and Mr Justice Vella sat. The court had been considering an appeal by Mario Camilleri from a 16-year jail term imposed for drug trafficking.
The court was told that Mario Camilleri through an intermediary had offered Lm10,000 to Mr Justice Patrick Vella who after initial refusal accepted the offer in return for reducing the jail term by four years. The former Chief Justice was similarly approached and he also accepted to help.
The third judge on the appeals court, Mr Justice Filletti, was never approached.
After the Appeals Court decided the case, Mr Justice Vella phoned asking for the money and was initially given Lm5,000. Another Lm5,000 were given to the Chief Justice.
Judge Patrick Vella was subsequently jailed for two years while Judge Noel Arrigo is on bail awaiting trial.
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In Discussion
21 Comments
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Joseph Schembri
Oct 18th 2008, 19:41
deb bugeja: exactly my feeling too...
deb bugeja
Oct 18th 2008, 14:27
@Joseph Schembri
The judges should have got more in my opinion. they were there to see that justice is being done. they knew the law.
Joseph Schembri
Oct 18th 2008, 10:40
The corrupter gets 4 yrs jail and the judge who in my eyes committed a far more serious crime only gets two years.
M Borg
Oct 18th 2008, 08:06
VERSION 2 of the events:
Mr Y is a foreigner, coming for a holiday in Malta, with his family, on a Saturday morning, and apprehended at Malta International Airport, having in his possession drugs for personal use! The Courts opens urgently on a Sunday (....heq, some workers have a right to earn some extra cash through overtime), where Mr Y is arraigned and bail is denied, since he has no connection with the island and may abscond. After a few weeks, Mr Y stands trial. He did not manage to get one of our top lawyers to defend him, does not know how the Maltese system work and has no friends and money to pay. He is found guilty of trafficking and sentenced to 15 years imprisonment!
This is Malta, in the EU in year 2008.
Keep it up!
I thought i was misunderstanding the report on the Times of Malta, back some weeks ago, that our beloved island ranked worse in the list of THE MOST CORRUPT COUNTRIES in the WORLD!!
M.Arrigo
Oct 17th 2008, 15:32
@ Mr J Mifsud: Noel Arrigo has not been convicted yet, let alone has he appealed to the sentence, so please get your facts....
Noel Borg
Oct 16th 2008, 16:48
@ steve busuttil
for your attention i followed the case. If you read carefully I said what happened to ARRIGO!!!
Bradly Reece
Oct 16th 2008, 16:03
Come on chaps whats good for the goose is good for the gander, play the white man this sounds like a one sided story to me, there are 2 sides to the coin u know> is this the full story and the end report is unfinished according to the above column.
M Bagley
Oct 16th 2008, 14:59
Well, it takes two to tango - now that the people who bribed the judges are found guilty, what about judges? if you do the crime, you gotta do the time.
Victor Cutajar
Oct 16th 2008, 14:30
More than sorry for both Judges, I do feel disgusted.The Judicial system may have never been that fair in the past but It had its implication and suspicion in the minds of ordinary people. We hope for a fairer and trustful system. Or at least for more people like Judge Filletti and the rest.
In God I Trust. So help me God.
JC Mifsud
Oct 16th 2008, 14:30
Ex Judge Patrick Vella was convicted and already served his sentence
Ex Chief Justice Noel Arrigo was also convicted but he appealed to the given sentence.
Olina Tretyak
Oct 16th 2008, 14:20
http://www.thedailyjudge.com/
Ex-judge to be jailed in section for 'vulnerable' people. "Former Judge Patrick Vella yesterday expressed remorse for his actions soon after he pleaded guilty to accepting a Lm10,000 bribe to reduce a drug trafficker's jail term by four years. The former judge was jailed for two years after Mr Justice Giannino Caruana Demajo, presiding over the trial, ruled that his actions 'dealt a harsh blow' to the trust the public had in the judicial system...Sources said Dr Vella will he kept in a prison section for 'vulnerable' people...."
11 /08/2002
The Chief Justice Noel V Arrigo has resigned and has apologised to the nation. Noel Arrigo together with Patrick Vella were allegedly bribed and consequently reduced the sentence of a drug baron.
In his letter to the President the former Chief Justice complained: "I would like to register my sadness and concern at the way I was pre-judged and my position prejudiced before the commencement of my interrogation."
Noel Arrigo implies that the Prime Minister has violated his right to a fair trial by announcing the arrest and interrogation of the Chief Justice. The Prime Minister was unusually forthright clearly conveying his conviction that the judges were guilty.
Eric Soames
Oct 16th 2008, 14:17
One judge went to trial a while ago and has in fact completed his sentence. The other awaits. I'll let you do the research!
Noel Cutajar
Oct 16th 2008, 14:10
@Deb Bugeja - one judge was already convicted and served two years imprisonment. The other is still awaiting trial. The question is this how come the corrupt gets two and the corrupter gets four?
A.Tabone
Oct 16th 2008, 14:06
@ I.M. Dingli
You must have a short memory .......wasn't Patrick Vella convicted? or are we living on a different planet?
Frank Attard
Oct 16th 2008, 14:05
"The court said it had considered the gravity of these crimes and their consequences on the judicial system and the confidence which the people should have in it."
Now I ask :- "Why did the people lose confidence in the judicial system?? Because a criminal tried to bribe the judge - OR because the Judge accepted a bribe??
So Who should bear the weight of this consequence?
WJ Gatt
Oct 16th 2008, 14:03
No if memory serves me both judges were charged with accepting bribes.
Probably that's why the article names them as "(then) Chief Justice" and "(then) Judge".
The journalist could have mentioned this; but come on, let's not wonder about the obvious!
steve busuttil
Oct 16th 2008, 13:46
Why comment when you clearly didnt follow the case?
One judge has been jailed after admitting while the other will be arraigned soon. This was all in the news and doesnt take much to check, even through the back issues of the times!
J Farrugia
Oct 16th 2008, 13:43
These three people do not know anything about our lawcourts. They don't even know that these are separate cases. BUT three years jail (which means only 27 months instead of 36 months) is TOO LOW a sentence. Is this the maximum which can be applied in such a sensational case?
deb bugeja
Oct 16th 2008, 13:31
Yes what about the judges? they should be convicted too.. Talk about justice
I. M. Dingli
Oct 16th 2008, 13:04
How cool, we convict the criminal but no mention regards the judges.
Noel Borg
Oct 16th 2008, 12:49
And what about Arrigo??? What happened to him??