A man who accused his former boss of forcing him to vote for the Nationalist Party or else lose his job in the last election was described by former colleagues as unreliable and a liar.

Three employees of Papillon Caterers testifying in court yesterday described Anthony Zammit, also known as Is-Sei, as unreliable and a liar.

Mr Zammit, had approached Labour deputy leader Anġlu Farrugia making the allegations about Pierre Bartolo, a director at Papillon Caterers.

Mr Bartolo stands charged with corrupt practices at the March 8, 2008 general election.

Dr Farrugia drew up a report including Mr Zammit's allegations and listing between 100 and 200 people who said they were paid to vote for the Nationalist Party. The report was presented to the Commissioner of Police. So far, only Mr Bartolo has been arraigned on the matter.

Under cross examination, one of the three workers who testified changed his version from the one he had given to the police in a statement.

Roderick Abela, 17, said he had told the police that there had been "threats". When confronted with this statement yesterday, after claiming that Mr Zammit was a liar, the witness said that what he meant by the word threat was "something light-hearted, almost a joke as everyone does around election time and there was nothing unusual about it".

Police Inspector Anthony Portelli testified that he had spoken to 32 people in unrelated cases who allegedly took photos in the polling booth but had denied that they had taken the photos because they were threatened.

Mr Zammit had told Dr Farrugia he had been threatened by a chef, Edwin Cioffi, at the catering company and was instructed to vote for the PN. He even said Mr Cioffi had given him his wife's mobile phone in order to photograph the ballot paper to prove whom he had voted for.

Mr Cioffi denied these claims and said he was baffled as to why Mr Zammit had implicated him in these allegations.

A kitchen worker, Clifton Demanuele, testified that all the allegations were false, adding that he had not seen or heard of anyone being threatened. It was not the first time that Mr Zammit would say something and then turn around and say another, the witness added.

They used to talk politics at work, especially as the election approached, but that was normal and Mr Zammit had boasted that he would vote for the PN, Mr Demanuele said.

Lawyers Joseph Giglio and Paul Farrugia were defence counsel.