A voter this afternoon insisted he had not been given any plausible explanation as to why his 2013 voting documents were in possession of the Labour Party’s former electoral commissioner.

Sliema resident Benedict Grech, who works and lives in Switzerland, said it was Joseph Falzon who called him on his mobile two days before the election and told him to go to the Gżira Orpheum where he handed him his voting documents.

He said he filed an official complaint with the Electoral Commission after Mr Falzon failed to explain how he was in possession of his voting documents for the general and local council elections.

Mr Grech was testifying during the compilation of evidence against Mr Falzon, 57, from Sliema, who was charged with the unlawful possession of the documents.

Police officers Roberto Magro, 42, of Sliema and Daniel Busuttil, 39, of Mosta, who were responsible for the distribution of voting documents, stand charged with giving the vote to someone other than the voter. They were also charged with committing a crime they were duty-bound to prevent.

All three pleaded not guilty to the charges brought against them.

As he was testifying before Magistrate Josette Demicoli, lawyers Stefan Zrinzo Azzopardi, Toni Abela and Jason Grima, appearing for Mr Falzon and Mr Magro, requested the court to caution Mr Grech.

They argued that his testimony could incriminate him as he was admitting to receiving voting documents from someone who was not authorised to handle the documents.

Police Inspector James Grech retorted that the lawyers were intimidating the witness.

After the magistrate cautioned the witness, he replied: “I came here and was given the oath to tell the whole truth so I will tell the truth. Then if it has to turn against me, so be it.”

He explained how he had gone to pick up his voting documents only to be told they had already been collected. He was also told that he had signed for them but the signature was not his.

Mr Grech claimed that some time later, he received a call from Mr Falzon to meet him next to the Gżira Orpheum for his voting documents. The Orpheum, he said, was set up for the monitoring of the election, with lots of boards.

The two met and Mr Falzon could not justify how he ended up in possession of the documents. Mr Grech said he warned Mr Falzon that he was going to file an official complaint and that he would have done the same thing had the documents been given to him by someone from the Nationalist Party or the Greens.

He said Mr Falzon replied: “If you keep quiet about it, it would be better for you.”

The case continues in June.

Lawyer Joe Giglio appeared for Mr Busuttil.