Two army officers cleared of lying under oath

Two army officers have been acquitted of lying under oath following an incident in which a private yacht was hit by a bullet during shooting practice at the Pembroke range in 2008.

The yacht, the Mistress Elusive, was struck by a single bullet of live ammunition from the shooting range on July 2, 2008, as soldiers carried out target practice.

For some reason or other, the yacht, which was carrying Helen Muscat and David Arney, entered the prohibited area during the practice, Magistrate Anthony Vella said.

He added that it was not his job to find who was at fault because a magisterial inquiry had been carried out and conclusions reached. What he had to find out was whether two soldiers, Amadeo Busuttil, 27, from Mqabba and Grazio Sammut, 51, from Pietà had lied under oath when testifying about the incident.

According to initial testimonies, Mr Sammut allegedly told Mr Busuttil that if he was interrogated or questioned about what happened he would say what he was originally ordered to do and not what really happened.

Mr Busuttil told him not to reveal what happened because some of the officials did not keep a proper lookout for boats that could enter the prohibited area.

Mr Sammut had to be the lookout towards the end of the exercise, when the boat was hit, but was still firing while Mr Busuttil still had three rounds left after he had finished firing, the magistrate said.

These versions were taken from the accused by John Sacco, an expert appointed by the duty magistrate. However, the two soldiers later changed their versions in court during the magisterial inquiry.

Magistrate Vella noted that Mr Sacco had not been given the competence to record witnesses under oath and the magisterial decree nominating him reflected this fact. The whole case, therefore collapses because of this fact, the magistrate concluded.

Even had Mr Sacco actually been allowed to hear witnesses under oath, the accused were still allowed, by law, to change their versions.