Fisherman denies links to drug trafficking

A tearful fisherman who stands accused of association to import and traffic drugs insisted in court today that he never gave any drugs to Egyptian Ekramy Mobarak and what the Egyptian man told the court yesterday was untrue.

Mobarak yesterday said the fisherman had given him drugs to sell.

Bursting in tears and raising his voice to the point of shouting, the accused, Andrea Zammit, 58 of Rabat, told the judge this morning that what the court had been told was all lies.

As the judge told him to calm down, Mr Zammit said he had never met Mr Mobarak and the first time he saw him was in court. Furthermore, he had never touched any drugs.

He said that on the day when it was claimed that Mr Mobarak had picked up drugs from his farm, he was watching television and then went down to my farm.

When he got there, he realised he didn’t have the keys and had to go back to fetch them. As he drove near the farm policemen stopped him and said they wanted to search his car. He told them to go ahead.

Mr Zammit said he did not see anyone at my farm. The main gate, he said, was always open and intruders could also jump in from anywhere because the walls were low.

Asked how Mr Mobarak knew him and a friend of his, Mr Zammit said he did not know, but this could be an act of vindictiveness and the Egyptian may have been asked by some one to harm him.

Mr Zammit also denied that dead protected birds found in a freezer on his farm belonged to him. He said that photos of the birds were not taken when he was there.

The trial continues.

See also

Witness says fisherman gave him drugs to sell

http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20100317/local/witness-says-fisherman-gave-him-drugs-to-sell