An appeals court this afternoon confirmed the jail term of two years and nine months imposed last November on former Chief Justice Noel Arrigo after he was found guilty of having reduced the jail term of a drug trafficker, exerted influence on other judges to follow suit, and revealed the details of a judgement before it was handed down.
The punishment, which includes a perpetual general interdiction, was one-year-and-a-half below the maximum allowed by law at the time the crime was committed.
The appeal was heard before Mr Justice David Scicluna, Mr Justice Joseph Zammit Mckeon and Mr Justice Noel Cuschieri.
Judge Arrigo appeared devasteted after the judgement was handed down. Some 15 members of his family, who were present in the hall, showed no emotion.
The original trial was presided by Mr Justice Giannino Caruana Demajo.
Dr Arrigo had been convicted of reducing the 16-year jail term of Mario Camilleri, also known as L-Imnieħru, on July 5, 2002. He sat on the Criminal Court of Appeal together with another two judges, Patrick Vella and Joseph Filletti. Dr Vella had also been bribed and admitted to accepting €23,000 for reducing the term. Mr Justice Filletti was never implicated.
After the case was revealed, the punishments attached to bribery and trading in influence were raised significantly but, in both cases, the disgraced judges were sentenced under the laws applying in 2002.
Mr Justice Caruana Demajo had said that he "believes that the bribe was not taken out of malice and greed for money but weakness and false friends that lead him to guilt". Dr Arrigo had planned to give the bribe money to charity, he said.
But the judge questioned whether Dr Arrigo's decision to rid himself of the money came after the case was revealed, although he pointed out that Dr Arrigo's behaviour was in contrast to that of the other bribed judge, who paid for jewellery with the money.
Still, the gravity of the fact that the Criminal Court of Appeal, the highest judicial body in penal laws, effectively came under the control of people involved in criminality was the first thing that needed to be considered, the judge said.
During the appeal hearings, Judge Arrigo's defence argued that timeline of events showed that Dr Arrigo had not been influenced to change the court sentence. On July 4, 2002 Joseph Zammit, known as Is-Sei, met Dr Arrigo in Valletta and mentioned that Mr Camilleri was willing to pay him to change the judgement. However evidence showed that Dr Arrigo told him off. By this date, the 12-year judgement against Mr Camilleri had already been written.
After the judgement was handed down, Mr Grech Sant was approached by Mr Zammit and Mr Camilleri's son who told him to pay Dr Arrigo. Some time later Mr Grech Sant went to Mr Arrigo's offices with an envelope containing money. When he handed it over, Dr Arrigo told him to take the money back and give it to charity. But Dr Arrigo kept the envelope. Tormented by what happened he told a friend priest and they planned to give the cash to charity. But before he could do so, he was arrested and charged.