Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/226023
3 News maltatoday, WEDNESDAY, 11 DECEMBER 2013 Speaker rules Farrugia will not enjoy parliamentary protection in PAC hearing OIL trader George Farrugia will today appear in front of the Public Accounts Committee but he will not enjoy protection provided to other witnesses, Speaker Anglu Farrugia has ruled. Nationalist MP Jason Azzopardi, the chairman of the PAC hearings into the Auditor General's audit of Enemalta's fuel procurement policy, had asked the Speaker to decide whether the presidential pardon granted to Farrugia was also applicable to the PAC hearings. Farrugia turned State's evidence after being granted a presidential pardon, when MaltaToday revealed back in January 2013 that one of the companies he represented – Dutch commodities giant Trafigura – was paying an Enemalta consultant a "commission" on the supply of oil to Enemalta. The resulting criminal investigation revealed a network of bribery reaching up right to the top echelons of Enemalta management. The Speaker yesterday ruled that the pardon also applied to the PAC hearings and the parliamentary guidelines which allow witnesses to refuse answering questions which might incriminate them do not apply to Farrugia. Farrugia added that the presidential pardon was given on the condition that he only speaks the truth, otherwise the pardon would be revoked and this also applies for PAC hearings. He also said that MPs still have a right to refer any questions posed to the witness to the Speaker, however Farrugia cannot refuse to answer any questions. Yesterday, Tancred Tabone's lawyer wrote to the Public Accounts Committee that her client does not appear before the parliamentary committee due to the ongoing court case. The former Enemalta chairman who is currently facing bribery charges in connection with the oil procurement scandal, was meant to appear today before the PAC. But a letter sent by lawyer Gianella de Marco, informed the PAC that she preferred that her client were not to appear before the committee. De Marco said she wuld be abroad and that her client would not have his preferred choice of legal aid. While the PAC will accept Tabone's request to appear on another date when his lawyer will not be abroad, it however insisted that every individual was obliged to appear before the PAC. Tabone will appear today evening before the PAC simply to confirm a future date. According to Standing Oders, everyone has to appear before a parlimantary committee, however the witness is not compelled to answer a question which might incriminate him. In the case of oil trader George Farrugia, given a presidential pardon, Speaker Anglu Farrugia has ruled that Farrugia must answer all questions put to him by the committee. While parliamentary secretary for justice Owen Bonnici insisted that he was not against the Speaker's decision, he noted that PAC chairman Jason Azzopardi should have never approached the Speaker on his own without informing anyone. Moreover, Azzopardi had decided that Farrugia should appear tomorrow "forecasting" that Tabone would refuse to testify in the absence of his lawyer. "I am not saying I disagree with the Speaker's ruling but those decisions should have been taken by us as full members of the committee and not by one person on his own," Bonnici said. Bonnici also pointed out that while witnesses had the right not to answer questions if these were to incriminate them, the PAC had all the right to ask the Speaker to give a ruling if it is believed that the witness would be lying. At one point, Azzopardi noted that the PAC's secretary had found it "extremely difficult" to find George Farrugia's address. Without clarifying what he was referring to, Azzopardi said the secretary hadn't found "any cooperation" in accessing Farrugia's details. The secretary also noted that while the letter notifying Farrugia of his appearance before the PAC had been delivered, no acknowledgement had been received. Anglu Farrugia ruled that key Enemalta oil scandal witness George Farrugia will not enjoy right to refuse to answer questions which might incriminate him