Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/501315
maltatoday, SUNDAY, 26 APRIL 2015 4 News GRTU president could face perjury charges CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 Attorney General Peter Grech's change of heart about the gravity of the origi- nal charge of attempted murder came about soon after a number of SMSs were downloaded from Farru- gia's mobile phone, which were pre- sented in court in the compilation of evidence on the insistence of both the prosecution and the defence. The SMSes confirmed that Far- rugia was suborning witnesses into upholding a misleading version of events of the incident. Eventually, one witness recanted in court, re- vealing that the claims of other key witnesses, like Paul Abela and Philip Fenech, were untrue. On giving sentence in September 2013, the court also ordered that the Commissioner of Police investigates Farrugia – who still retains his gov- ernment appointment as the repre- sentative of Maltese employers on the European Economic and Social Committee, the EU's consultative body on civil society – for perjury. Chetcuti later instituted a police challenge against the Commission- er of Police for failing to file per- jury charges against Farrugia and a number of witnesses. In its decision, the court presided by Magistrate Aaron Bugeja noted that at the time, former Commis- sioner of Police Peter Paul Zammit had decided not to prosecute Farru- gia for perjury after consulting with the Attorney General and his supe- riors, although it is not clear who his superiors were. The court concluded that the Commissioner of Police should take the necessary steps to prosecute all those who had lied under oath to- gether with Farrugia, but the court fell short of naming all those who could face perjury charges. Magistrate Bugeja decried that many witnesses in the trumped up charges against Chetcuti had been coached to effectively give false tes- timony. In particular, the court made spe- cific reference to an SMS that Farru- gia had sent to Paul Abela reminding him to repeat that Sandro Chetcuti used the word: "Noqtlok" (I will kill you). Farrugia also asked Abela to say that Chetcuti made his "kill you" threat as Chetcuti was hitting Far- rugia. Paul Abela, who did as he was asked, was not even in the room, it transpired later. Farrugia sent SMSes to various wit- nesses, including to GRTU employee Sylvia Gauci, who was told: "All you have to do on Wednesday… is to say loud and clear, that if your colleagues were not there he would have killed me. I'm in no doubt he would have stopped only after he battered me. You should keep a beast in prison [Bestja trid thalliha Kordin]". It was Sylvia Gauci herself who later admitted in court that she had been coerced to make up her side of the story, and that she had lied under oath. The court repeated the observa- tions of Judge Edwina Grima, in the criminal case against Chetcuti, who had pointed out the inconsistencies in the testimony of Vincent Farrugia and Paul Abela. Other testimonies also raised doubts about the veracity of other witnesses, such as that of GRTU offi- cial Philip Fenech, who is a friend of Farrugia, and who stated that he had heard shouting at the GRTU offices, when Sylvia Gauci had testified that Philip Fenech was not even in the GRTU offices. Farrugia was insistent in his elec- tronic messaging to Philip Fenech, to whom he said in an SMS – osten- sibly referring to Chetcuti – "the pig must roast". Farrugia also sent other messages to prominent journalists and blog- gers, many of whom had taken Far- rugia's side of the story in the police prosecution of Sandro Chetcuti. Vince Farrugia (right) also asked Paul Abela (left) to testify, falsely, that Chetcuti made the threat "I will kill you" as Chetcuti was hitting Farrugia. Paul Abela, it transpired later, was not even in the room . Centre: Philip Fenech Man dies after fall A 58-year-old man from Xaghra lost his life after falling a height of three storeys while doing plastering work at a private residence in Imgarr Road, Xewkija. The accident happened at around 11am yesterday. The man was taken to the Gozo General Hospital where he was cer- tified to be in critical condition. He later succumbed to the injuries. Police investigations are under- way. The court concluded that the Commissioner of Police should take steps to prosecute all those who had lied under oath together with Farrugia