[attach id=252297 size="medium"]Richard Cachia Caruana.[/attach]

Malta’s former permanent representative to the EU, Richard Cachia Caruana, yesterday denied that he had in anyway used the security service against anyone.

Taking the witness stand, Mr Cachia Caruana was testifying in the libel proceedings he instituted against Education Minister Evarist Bartolo for comments made on May 19 last year on the Labour Party’s radio station One.

Mr Cachia Caruana presented to the court a copy of the transcript of what Mr Bartolo had said.

He told Magistrate Francesco Depasquale that he found to be defamatory the allegation he had used the security service against people he did not like.

He objected to it because it was a lie and a lie that had very serious implications. He had never used the security service against anyone, let alone against someone he did not like.

The allegation, he said, depicted him as someone who illegally used State organs. He had nothing to do with the security service and had no power over it, he insisted.

The case continues.