Lino Farrugia Sacco, a judge and the Maltese Olympic Committee president, yesterday filed a criminal libel suit against the Ombudsman in reaction to a strongly worded letter that called for his suspension.
Every person has a right to defend himself in the best way possible
In a statement circulated to the media, Mr Justice Farrugia Sacco said it was “completely false” to say that MOC officials were implicated in “a case of corruption”.
He was referring to a letter Ombudsman Joseph Said Pullicino, a former Chief Justice, sent to the President on Tuesday, which was also circulated to the media.
Dr Said Pullicino called for the judge to be “relieved of his duties” until he cleared his name in the scandal linked to the sale of Winter Olympic tickets.
Mr Justice Farrugia Sacco and MOC general secretary Joe Cassar were mentioned by the International Olympic Committee in a probe over the sale of Olympic tickets. The investigation started after a probe by undercover reporters of The Sunday Times of London, who posed as ticket agents.
When contacted, Mr Justice Farrugia Sacco said he had no alternative but to file a criminal libel case over the Ombudsman’s use of the word “corruption”. “It does not exist anywhere. I am saddened because I considered him to be a friend but he is totally mistaken,” Mr Justice Farrugia Sacco said.
Together with his statement, the judge attached the IOC ethics commission’s report and a statement by the European Olympic Committee underlining the fact that corruption was never mentioned.
When contacted for his comments, Dr Said Pullicino said: “Every person has a right to defend himself in the best way possible.”
Mr Justice Farrugia Sacco has denied any wrongdoing and will be challenging the proceedings of the IOC ethics commission in the court of arbitration for sports.
Justice Minister Chris Said had asked the Commission for the Administration of Justice, chaired by President George Abela, to investigate the case involving the judge when The Sunday Times of London reported on its investigation last June.
The commission’s proceedings are secret and Dr Abela decided to withdraw from the hearing because, in the past, he had defended Mr Justice Farrugia Sacco before the same commission over accusations of breaching the judiciary’s code of ethics.
The Ombudsman’s letter came hot on the heels of Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi’s call for the judge to “do the honourable” thing and resign.
Rebutting the criticism yesterday, Mr Justice Farrugia Sacco said he would be communicating with the commission to provide “the real sequence of events and not the malicious interpretations given by certain journalists and politicians”.
ksansone@timesofmalta.com