A magistrate has ordered the Attorney General to present the report by the OLAF EU anti-fraud office to court, turning down a request by the AG and the police for a delay.

Magistrate Anthony Vella said the report should remain in his chambers and should be presented only to the prosecution and the defence.

The presentation of the report was requested by the defence counsel of Silvio Zammit, who is accused of  soliciting a €60 million bribe to influence tobacco legislation under the portfolio of former European Commissioner John Dalli. The scandal had led to Mr Dalli's resignation from the EU executive.

Lawyers Kris Busietta and Edward Gatt argued that the lack of access to the report was prejudicial to their client’s case.

The police, which had been planning to arraign Mr Dalli before he was taken ill at a Brussels hospital late in December, resisted presenting the document but Magistrate Vella accepted the defence argument.

The police then filed an application to have that decision reconsidered.

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