Denying bail to the 75-year-old “whistleblower” in the Rita Schembri case was a message to society that people may face criminal proceedings if they report irregularities, according to the man’s lawyer.
“As a whistleblower, my client is protected by law and should therefore not only be given bail pending the case before the courts but should be released because the charges are unfounded in fact and at law,” lawyer Edward Debono said in an urgent judicial application.
His client, Joseph Borg from Swieqi, was denied bail after being charged with urgency before Magistrate Consuelo Scerri Herrera last Saturday.
He faces accusations of sending a defamatory e-mail in which he allegedly attempted to blackmail the head of the Government’s internal audit bureau, Rita Schembri, who is herself at the centre of an investigation.
According to the prosecuting inspector, Mr Borg told Ms Schembri in his e-mail to pay two Nigerians a substantial sum of money within a set timeframe or he would report her to the EU Anti-Fraud Agency, OLAF, for allegedly trying to circumvent the conditions of a lease agreement.
The lease is for a bar in Buġibba, which Mr Borg had leased to Ms Schembri and her husband Mark in 1995. They in turn sublet these premises to a Nigerian couple but breached the conditions of the lease agreement and tried to conceal this, according to a 2009 court judgment.
In his e-mail Mr Borg told Ms Schembri to regularise her position according to the court judgment and pay her dues, Dr Debono insisted.
Moreover, the threat to report a crime was not a crime in itself, he said, particularly as Ms Schembri was a public official and his client was merely saying he would report the case as a breach of her code of ethics.
As for the claim that a part of Mr Borg’s e-mail (in which he alleged that the Schembri couple was trying to get back at him) was defamatory, Dr Debono pointed out that an e-mail sent to the person concerned could not be considered defamatory, as it had not been published or circulated widely.
Dr Debono also challenged the technical basis of the decision to deny Mr Borg bail, particularly considering that the police’s key evidence – the e-mail – was presented in court on Saturday and could not be tampered with.
He said that according to a European Court of Human Rights judgment, detention could only be justified if there were “specific indications of a genuine requirement of public interest”.
The case emerged after former Commissioner John Dalli questioned Ms Schembri’s role as a member of the supervisory committee of the EU’s anti-fraud agency OLAF, which in October revealed details of an investigation that led to his resignation.
Following the resignation, businessman Philip Rizzo claimed she had used her public office to discuss an investment proposal by Far East Entertainment Group plc to acquire a stake in Casinò di Venezia. The case is now expected to be investigated by the Auditor General.