A high court ruling in Malta has declared that the man accused of trading in influence and complicity in a request for a €60 million bribe from a Swedish tobacco company, had his human rights breached when the Attorney General refused to declare his evidence closed, according to a story by Matthew Vella for Malta Today.
The ruling in favour of restauranteur Silvio Zammit was handed down by the Court of Constitutional Appeal, which confirmed a decision by the civil court in its constitutional jurisdiction.
Zammit was accused in 2012 of having requested the bribe from snus manufacturer, Swedish Match, and the European Smokeless Tobacco Council (ESTOC), a lobby group, in a bid to convince the-then European Commissioner for health to lift an EU ban on snus, which can be sold legally in Sweden but may not be sold in other European countries.
In its decision, the Court said the law courts hearing the compilation of evidence against Zammit could not delay the process any longer over the inability to summon a witness, who is based in Belgium, to testify in the proceedings.
It said the Attorney General, who appealed the decision that found for Zammit, had the onus to bring the ESTOC secretary, Inge Delfosse, to testify in Malta and not use this snag as an excuse to let the case gather dust on a shelf.
The case against Zammit was filed by the Malta police in 2012 but the Attorney General has so far refused to declare his evidence closed after the last witness refused to testify in the bribery case.
Tag: Malta
Time called on snus case
Starting the year with a ban
Photo by Owen Zammit Malta will be marking the start of 2017 with a ban on smoking and vaping in private cars when people under the age of 16 are present, according to a story in The Times of Malta.
‘Children are at particular risk from the effects of passive smoking because they have an increased risk of developing chest infections during their first five years,’ the Health Ministry was quoted as saying.
‘Babies who are exposed to cigarette smoke are also at a greater risk of sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS), which is also known as cot death.’
The ministry said also that smoke made children more vulnerable to ear infections and asthma.
Levels of toxins from smoking in cars could reach high counts very quickly, it added.
The ban, it was reported, will apply to ‘all tobacco products’ and electronic cigarettes.
Drivers will be held responsible for violations and be liable to a fine of €50, but passengers caught smoking in a car in the presence of minors will also be liable to a fine of €50.
Smoking was banned in all enclosed public spaces in Malta in April 2004.
Dalligate update: Kimberley denies asking for €60 million
Defence lawyers of Sliema restaurateur Silvio Zammit yesterday pressed the police’s witness Gayle Kimberley on whether she was the one who came up with the €60 million figure at the heart of the Dalligate scandal.
Kimberley denied it categorically, but lawyer Edward Gatt insisted on the point, reminding the young lawyer that she was testifying under oath, according to a story in The Malta Times.
He then went back to a note that Kimberley had prepared for Zammit with a series of questions for the former European Commissioner John Dalli and asked why she had written down that Swedish Match made a turnover of €500 million, half of which was profit.
She said that the figure was suggested by Swedish Match, adding that the intention was to relay the message to Dalli that the company was actually a modest trader in the tobacco industry.
However, at this point, Dr Gatt and his colleague Kris Busietta pressed further saying that she had mentioned that figure because she was later going to ask for €50 million to lift the ban through her contacts with Dalli. She later suggested changing it to €60 million “so it would not be a round figure”, according to the lawyer.
Kimberley also rejected this but the lawyer again reminded her that she was testifying under oath, adding that she had plans to use the money to set up a lobbying office in Brussels and buy property in Sliema with her former lover Iosif Galea. Kimberley also denied this.Shortly after this, Gatt stopped the cross-examination, saying he would continue at a later date because he needed time to review a lot of material, which the defence was analyzing, suggesting that they had material which was not available to the police or OLAF. Earlier, in fact, Gatt pointed out that Kimberley sent most of her emails through her phone. Nonetheless, when asked she said that neither OLAF nor the police had seized her phone, despite seizing her work and home computers.
EU Tobacco Products Directive review to proceed
A planned review of the European Union Tobacco Products Directive will proceed once a replacement has been found for Health Commissioner John Dalli, said EU spokeswoman Pia Ahrenkilde Hansen on Oct. 17. Dalli resigned following an investigation of a complaint by Swedish Match made in May.
The EU anti-fraud office, OLAF, found evidence that Dalli knew a “person close to him” was requesting a “substantial” sum of money from Swedish Match in return for seeking to influence the future legislative proposal removing or softening the existing ban on snus in the EU.
Dalli denies the claims and says he resigned to give himself “a free hand in opposing the allegations.” He also plans legal action to clear his name.
Malta Today identified the person who approached Swedish Match as Silvio Zammit, a well-known Maltese entrepreneur and councilor for the city of Sliema. Zammit resigned from the council five hours after the announcement of Dalli’s resignation.
Swedish Match said it takes the incident very seriously and expects the European Commission will “ensure a transparent and legally fair process for the proposal of a new Tobacco Products Directive, which is expected during the autumn.”
The company said it expects the available scientific evidence on the significantly lower health risks of snus compared with cigarettes to be considered in the review process.
Commenting on the investigation, a spokesman for the Union of Tobacco Growers in Europe called on the commission to abandon the proposals developed by Dalli and begin again with a fair and transparent process that results in tobacco regulations that will both protect a public health and tobacco farmers’ jobs.
