Giovanni Kessler, head of the EU’s anti-fraud agency OLAF. Photo: AFPThe head of the EU anti-fraud agency (OLAF) is expected to give evidence via video conference in the case of Silvio Zammit, the only person charged in relation with the Dalligate case.
Giovanni Kessler, who heads OLAF, is set to give evidence on September 1, along with another member of the agency who investigated the case, Luis Romero, court sources told The Sunday Times of Malta.
John Dalli was forced to resign from the European Commission in October 2012 after Mr Kessler concluded there was circumstantial evidence to show that the former commissioner was aware of Mr Zammit’s alleged bribery dealings.
On Friday, the court is scheduled to hear other protagonists in the case via video conference.
Ruppini Bergstrom and Johan Gabbrielson from Swedish Match, the tobacco company that lodged the complaint, which started the investigation, and Inge Delfosse, secretary general of the European Smokeless Tobacco Lobby, are expected to testify on Friday.
This will be the first time that Mr Kessler gives evidence on the case in Malta.
He has fielded questions from the European Parliament about the case but never in court.
Last month, he was scheduled to appear before the Privileges Committee in Parliament, however, he sent a letter instead, stating he was unable to attend because of prior engagements.
In this letter he wrote to the Speaker of the House, Mr Kessler still dropped a bombshell when he accused former police commissioner Peter Paul Zammit of not cooperating with a fresh investigation that the agency was carrying out on Mr Dalli.
However, the testimony may be mired in controversy, with Mr Zammit’s lawyer, Edward Gatt, saying the defence had received no formal notification that the video conference will be held.
“We only got to know about it informally when we asked why the sitting was brought forward.
“The prosecuting inspector cordially told me that witnesses will be testifying via video conference,” Dr Gatt said, adding he did not know if formal procedures were followed.
Dr Gatt said the defence was in a conundrum because on one hand it wanted correct legal procedures to be followed but did not want to delay proceedings any further to get his client cleared as quickly as possible.
Swedish Match officials said they knew nothing about the video conference. They said the last contact they had with the Maltese police was last year. Attempts to contact OLAF were unsuccessful.
Mr Zammit, a former canvasser of Mr Dalli, is accused of trading in influence and asking Swedish Match for €60 million to change EU rules banning snus, an oral tobacco legal only in Sweden.