“Obscene” and “outrageous” collective agreement conditions for Freeport workers were exposed in court yesterday in the case against three employees charged with stealing a container full of cigarettes.
Defence lawyers Giannella de Marco, Paul Lia and Veronique Dalli expressed shock upon hearing that, once employees were charged with a serious offence, they would have to go on vacation leave, which would then convert to special leave without pay while they were under preventive arrest.
Dr Dalli said the arrangement affected her client, Michael Sciberras, 39, of Valletta, an assistant Freeport security officer, because he was a Freeport employee. She said he was not under preventive arrest any longer but had found himself without a salary despite still being innocent until proven otherwise.
Together with Rokku (Rocky) Agius, 53, of Żebbuġ, a stevedore, and Billy Grech, 44, of Żejtun, a senior Customs officer, Mr Sciberras had been in custody for three weeks, until Monday, when they were granted bail, following police investigations that started after 450 boxes, each containing 10,000 cigarettes, were stolen from the Freeport last month.
The value was originally put at €1 million including VAT and excise duty.
Details of the collective agreement were given in court by Freeport human resources manager Mark Vella.
The director of enforcement at Customs, Anthony Busuttil, said the cigarettes were valued at €130,500, contrasting sharply with the €47,000 declared by the shipper.
Asked how the value of the contents was established, he explained that a predetermined set of calculations was used to reach an estimated value once they knew the container was fully loaded prior to the theft.
He said counterfeit cigarettes did not leave the Freeport, which was considered a “third country” in the eyes of the law, and were destroyed following a court order.
If the cigarettes were in transit, no excise duty or VAT was paid.
After the sitting started two and half hours late, the defence lawyers lamented that such delays upset their timetables, affecting other cases and meetings with clients in the afternoon. The case started at 3.45pm and ended just after 6pm.
Magistrate Aaron Bugeja admitted they were justified in their criticism.
The case continues.