Judges may be arraigned in court today

Chief Justice Noel Arrigo and Mr Justice Patrick Vella, who on Thursday were linked to bribery charges by the prime minister, are likely to be arraigned in court this afternoon, sources told The Sunday Times yesterday.

In a parallel move, Government yesterday announced it had started proceedings to impeach the two judges after it resulted there was enough proof of misbehaviour, according to the Constitution.

At a press conference which shocked the nation last Thursday, Prime Minister Eddie Fenech Adami said that Chief Justice Arrigo and Mr Justice Vella had accepted thousands of liri in return for a reduction in a convicted man's sentence.

In a press statement yesterday, the government said it had decided to start impeachment proceedings following the developments of the police interrogations of the two judges, and of "other persons".

A motion is to be presented in Parliament for the removal of the two judges. Opposition leader Alfred Sant was informed of the prime minister's declaration, the statement said. An impeachment motion needs a two-thirds majority of the House to be carried.

Many interpreted the government's move as an attempt to put pressure on the two judges to hand in their resignation.

Investigations continued yesterday and sources said that both judges had complained of chest pains. One of them was in fact admitted to a hospital.

Both had released extensive statements to the police, one of which was some 80 pages long. Sources said one of the judges first said he had accepted the money but then returned it.

The investigation was a rather difficult and sensitive one for the police but when faced with evidence, which ranged from photos to videotapes, the judges had little elbow room, the sources said.

The sources said investigations about the case showed that the investment made into the security service had started to pay off.

Two persons, one from Valletta and the other, a businessman who had links to a club in Floriana, were among those interrogated by the police and are understood to have been the "go-betweens" over the case of Mario Camilleri, who is known as l-Imniehru.

Sources said yesterday that the sum allegedly paid to the two judges amounted to about Lm5,000 and Lm10,000 respectively.

The procedure that will now be followed is that the prime minister will present the motion to the Speaker of the House, who in turn will inform the Commission for the Administration of Justice about the case.

The prime minister or the police commissioner will present the commission with all the evidence to show why they believed these judges should be impeached.

Should the commission agree prima facie that there is a case for impeachment, it will then inform Parliament to start the necessary proceedings.

A member of the commission said he did not expect the process to be a lengthy one.

The commission is chaired by President Guido de Marco. Its vice-president is Chief Justice Arrigo himself and the other members are Mr Justice Frank Camilleri, Mr Justice Vincent Degaetano, Magistrates Silvio Meli and Dennis Montebello, former Judge Victor Caruana Colombo, Dr Joe Micallef Stafrace, Dr Joe Azzopardi (current president of the Chamber of Advocates) and the Attorney General, Dr Anthony Borg Barthet.

Apart from the Chief Justice, who is implicated in the case, Mr Justice Degaetano is expected to abstain from voting since it was he who had handed down the original 16-year sentence on Camilleri.

Sources said that during the emergency Cabinet meeting last Thursday, shortly before the announcement was made, ministers had been told that Parliament could be convened during the summer recess to debate the matter.

The sources defended the prime minister's decision to come out in the open about the case.

"What the prime minister has done is to prepare the country for the shock. He definitely had ample proof before making his statement, even if as citizens they are deemed innocent until proven guilty.

"The most important thing at this stage is speed and clarity. We simply cannot have a minimal doubt hanging on two such high-profile figures."

Legal sources said that analysis of the original sentence and the appeal showed there were hardly any legal grounds on which Camilleri's sentence should have been reduced by four years, from 16 to 12.

Camilleri was originally charged in June 1997. He faced a string of charges ranging from possession and trafficking of cocaine, to laundering drug money, illegal possession of a firearm and trying to corrupt a witness at the police depot.

Following the compilation of evidence, he faced a trial by jury but opted to plead guilty before the jurors were chosen.

The sources explained that accused persons sometimes opted to plead guilty when they knew that the prosecution had a watertight case against them. Pleading guilty might help them get a lighter sentence because of the amount of time and money saved if a trial is not held.

The original sentence was handed down by Mr Justice Degaetano on June 11, 2001, five days after Camilleri admitted the charges against him.

Sources said Mr Justice Degaetano's sentence was very clear that plea bargaining had taken place as the Attorney General had withdrawn the money laundering and relapsing charges.

Mr Justice Degaetano noted that Camilleri faced life imprisonment, although section 22 (2) (a) (i) gave the court the discretion to decide on a jail term between four and 30 years and a fine between Lm1,000 and Lm50,000.

Mr Justice Degaetano had said he had taken note of the evidence given by Camilleri's wife, his criminal record, his guilty plea at an early stage of the proceedings and the time Camilleri had spent in preventive custody.

The court then condemned Camilleri to 16 years in prison and fined him Lm25,000.

An appeal was filed on June 28 and the Court of Criminal Appeal presided over by Chief Justice Arrigo, Judge Vella and Judge Joseph Filletti on July 5 reduced the jail term by four years.

The prime minister made it very clear in his press conference on Thursday that Mr Justice Filletti was not being investigated about the case.

Throughout the appeal, the judges threw out all the arguments brought by Camilleri and argued that the Criminal Court had taken into consideration that a guilty plea was filed early. The Appeal Court said that an early admission of guilt does not lead to an automatic reduction of sentence.

The Appeal Court said that the sentence given was far from the maximum that could have been imposed. It further noted that it was evident that drug trafficking was taking place regularly and that the Criminal Court could have actually inflicted a much harsher penalty.

But following such statements, the Appeal Court said that more consideration could have been given to Camilleri's early guilty plea and reduced the prison term by four years.

Without citing any caselaw, the Appeal Court said its judgment was being given in line with other judgments.

Sources said that thanks to the appeal, Camilleri would be released from prison in less than two years' time.