The girlfriend of alleged drug lord Jordan Azzopardi has regained freedom after she had been re-arrested following claims that she had offered a witness €20,000 not to testify.
The 31-year-old mother of five, whose name was banned from publication to safeguard her children, had forfeited bail granted in earlier proceedings.
She is pleading not guilty to criminal conspiracy, fraudulently circulating fake cash and defrauding three stores in San Ġwann and Sliema. She is also charged with cannabis possession.
During a dramatic sitting in June, a witness testified that he had been bombarded by calls from a third party offering him €10,000 and a further €10,000 after the hearing in exchange for not testifying.
The witness had claimed that during one of the calls, he had recognised the woman’s voice.
“I'm speaking out because I've had enough. They've been threatening me even up until last week,” the man had said, while the woman shook her head.
That testimony had prompted the woman’s re-arrest at the end of the sitting. Prosecutors then filed bribery charges against her.
Her lawyers are strongly denying the claims, insisting that in reality, it was the witness who had demanded money from the alleged drug lord to not testify.
Since then, fresh charges concerning the attempted subornation of a witness have also been issued in respect of Mr Azzopardi, bringing the number of cases against the couple to four: the two original cases stemming from their arrest in March and two separate cases concerning the alleged bribery. The woman was also separately charged with breaching bail.
Mr Azzopardi has not been granted bail since his arrest in March. A relative application by his lawyers, still pending before the court, is expected to be decided upon soon, after more civilian witnesses have testified in his regard.
Following a fresh application for bail on behalf of the woman and since civilian witnesses had testified, the court, presided over by magistrate Doreen Clarke, granted bail against a deposit of €10,000, a personal guarantee of €10,000, an order to sign the bail book on a daily basis and a curfew.
The cases continue.
Inspectors Mark Anthony Mercieca and Justine Grech are prosecuting. Lawyers Franco Debono, Amadeus Cachia and Marion Camilleri are defence counsel.