Two key witnesses in the trial of Noel Arrigo yesterday testified that the former Chief Justice had told them he did not want any money in connection with an appeal case over which he was presiding.
One of the witnesses, businessman Anthony Grech Sant, is a childhood friend of Dr Arrigo, who is pleading not guilty to charges of bribery and trading in influence in July 2002 following the reduction of a drug trafficker's jail term.
Mr Grech Sant, who is in jail for his involvement in the bribery case, told the court that Joseph Zammit, Is-Sei, had asked him to help Pierre Camilleri's father, Mario, get his jail sentence reduced on appeal.
"One day the judge came to my house and, for the first time ever in our long friendship, I spoke to him about a court case. I told him that the family was offering €23,000. I felt very embarrassed speaking to him about this subject. His response was that he did not do these things."
He continued: "A lot of time passed and on July 5 (2002) late in the afternoon after the appeal judgment had been handed down, I called Dr Arrigo and asked him when he was going to be in Valletta. When I got to my office, I found Pierre Camilleri and Mr Zammit waiting for me outside and they gave me a sealed envelope. I assumed that it contained cash but I did not check. They said there was €11,650, half the amount they had originally promised."
Asked about the actual delivery, Mr Grech Sant said he went to a boardroom which Dr Arrigo used as his office and as soon as he walked in Dr Arrigo said he had already told him he did not want anything. It was then that he threw the envelope on the table and continued chatting with Dr Arrigo about something else.
Pressed further, Mr Grech Sant said Dr Arrigo never told him to take the envelope back.
At the end of his testimony, Mr Grech Sant said he got no commission for being a deliveryman and that the only thing he got in return for what he had done was a jail term.
The other witness was Mr Zammit, who explained that he had spoken to former judge Patrick Vella about reducing Mr Camilleri's jail term and had asked Mr Grech Sant to speak to Dr Arrigo whom he knew to be the judge's friend.
He said that he had met Dr Arrigo who told him that, if the jail term could be reduced according to law, he would see what could be done about it.
"He made it very clear that he did not want any money and that,if there was any money, I could give it to charity," he told the court.
Drug trafficker Mario Camilleri, L-Imniehru, and his son Pierre were very scanty in their testimonies yesterday, both denying ever doing anything to get a jail term reduced on appeal.
"I spent four years in jail and was never granted bail. My lawyer said I would get between eight and 10 years but the court jailed me for 16. And I appealed it. I don't know why they reduced my jail term by four years," Mario Camilleri said.
His son Pierre said he did not remember ever doing anything for his father's prison sentence to be reduced. He said he got sent to jail because he was Mario Camilleri's son but had not done anything.
Joseph Galea, an employee at Dr Arrigo's company, testified that he first spoke to Dr Arrigo about the case the day after the appeal judgment was handed down. Dr Arrigo told him he was angry at Mr Grech Sant because he left an envelope on his desk containing €3,500.
He said Dr Arrigo was confused and it was the first time he had ever seen him so angry.
The trial continues this morning when Dr Arrigo is expected to testify for the first time since the case began seven years ago.
Mr Justice Giannino Caruana Demajo is presiding over the trial. The head of the Prosecution Unit at the Attorney General's Office, Anthony Barbara, together with lawyer Lara Lanfranco are prosecuting. Lawyers Joseph Giglio and Robert Abela are appearing for Dr Arrigo.