Witnesses for the defence today spoke of provocative behaviour by GRTU Director-General Vince Farrugia in various instances when they gave evidence in the case instituted by the police against developer Sandro Chetcuti, who is accused of having injured GRTU Director-General Vince Farrugia when he assaulted him at GRTU headquarters two years ago.
Mr Chetcuti is claiming he was provoked.
Michael Falzon, president of the Developers’ Association said that he had met Mr Chetcuti at court on the day of the fight and Mr Chetcuti had told him that he was due to meet Mr Farrugia later in the day.
Some time later he received a phone call from Mr Chetcuti telling him that he had lost his temper and hit Mr Farrugia and he was on his way to the police station.
A few days later, he said, Finance Minister Tonio Fenech had held a presentation for which the Developers’ Association was invited. He went there with Mr Chetcuti (vice president of the association).
Mr Farrugia walked in and began poking Mr Chetcuti in the chest and, Mr Falzon said, he had to step in between them to avoid another incident
He said that Mr Farrugia 's behavior was exactly how Mr Chetcuti had described it when he told him how he was provoked before the assault.
Police Inspector Sandro Saliba testified how Sandro Chetcuti had, immediately after the incident, described how he was provoked by Vince Farrugia. He seemed very agitated.
Mark Saliba said that he was a member of the GRTU for many years and in his last year he was the Vice President responsible for finances. He had started a review of finances but encountered a lot of resistance when he started asking questions, to the extent that he submitted his resignation.
Mr Farrugia assured me that everything would change. Mr Saliba suggested that an auditor should be called in. At one point they got into an argument and Mr Farrugia started shouting at him, pointing a finger into his face saying that he was nothing and had no right to get involved in accounts. He told him that he should just sign the cheques, without even looking at them. He then began banging the table and left.
The witness said he told Paul Abela, the GRTU president, that this behaviour was unacceptable. Following that meeting, he was ignored by Mr Farrugia.
On December 21, a member phoned him to ask about a cheque, but he knew nothing about it, and later he found out that a new bank account had been opened. He then sent in his resignation because things had been done behind his back, despite him being the treasurer.
When asked if Mr Chetcuti was ever violent towards other members of the GRTU, he said that he was never witness to anything of the sort.
Taking the witness stand, Joseph Tabone, former GRTU Vice President said he also represented the GRTU on the board of the Trade Fairs Corporation.
When the corporation ceased organising fairs, the initial idea was to transfer its funds to charity but there was a lot of reluctance and the money was split, the GRTU being a beneficiary.
There were serious doubts where where the funds from the corporation were going. Questions started being asked at a meeting and Mr Farrugia began shouting and refused to answer any questions. The accountant was also present for the meeting. Mr Farrugia was pointing in his face and was aggressive.