Text messages led to GRTU office assault, victim testifies

A number of text messages that were meant for Labour leader Joseph Muscat but sent by mistake to the director-general of the Chamber of Small and Medium Enterprises - GRTU, Vince Farrugia had led to Mr Farrugia being assaulted in his office, the victim said in court yesterday.

Mr Farrugia was testifying in the compilation of evidence of Sandro Chetcuti, a GRTU council member, who stands charged with Mr Farrugia's attempted murder, causing him serious injury and threatening and harassing him on March 11.

The victim recalled that on March 10 he had received a series of SMS messages from Mr Chetcuti, meant for Dr Muscat, informing him about confidential meetings within the GRTU. Shortly afterwards, Mr Chetcuti called him saying his phone had been "hijacked" and that he was not the person who had sent the messages. Mr Farrugia said Mr Chetcuti also told him he would meet him at the GRTU offices in Valletta the next day to prove what he was saying.

When the two met the following day, Mr Chetcuti attacked him, punching him about 20 times and kicking him while he lay in a foetal position on the floor, Mr Farrugia said.

Before his encounter with the accused, Mr Farrugia said he was in another meeting with GRTU president Paul Abela, council member Silvia Gauci and economist Gordon Cordina. As Mr Chetcuti waited outside, he became so agitated that an executive member, Joseph Attard, took him to have a coffee. They returned after about 15 minutes and Mr Chetcuti walked into Mr Farrugia's office. He asked Mr Abela and Ms Gauci to leave because he wanted to speak privately, Mr Farrugia said.

The witness said he was sitting at the council table and Mr Chetcuti went to sit next to him, producing documentation from Vodafone to prove that he was not the person who had sent the messages.

Mr Farrugia said the documents in question only indicated the call movements but nothing about the messages meant for Dr Muscat.

Mr Farrugia said he informed the accused he had discussed the issue with the council and they adopted the approach that Mr Chetcuti should not be trusted and that he was a persona non grata.

Mr Farrugia explained that the text messages constituted a serious breach because, given that the GRTU appointed members to sit on government boards, its members had to be people of integrity and it was unacceptable to have somebody leaking information about confidential meetings involving businessmen.

Mr Chetcuti's behaviour in sending those messages had caused a lot of friction among council members because they felt they could not speak freely anymore, Mr Farrugia added.

He said Mr Chetcuti told him: "You hate me. You hate me". Mr Farrugia said that he had been saying the same thing for about a month.

The witness said he told Mr Chetcuti he did not believe it was not him who had sent the text messages because Mr Chetcuti had a unique way of writing his messages, quite like the way handwriting identified a person. As the two men got up, Mr Farrugia said Mr Chetcuti grabbed him by the neck and he loudly ordered the accused to get out. They approached the door and Mr Chetcuti asked Mr Farrugia why he hated him because "everyone loves me".

Mr Chetcuti turned and punched him in the face with such force that Mr Farrugia said he fell backwards into the office and onto the floor. Mr Chetcuti jumped on him and continued punching him rapidly.

"I will never forget the scene for as long as I live", Mr Farrugia said, adding that he felt like a punching bag.

He said he tried to defend himself by covering his face with his arms and pulling his legs in, staying in a foetal position.

Mr Farrugia said that an x-ray examination last Monday showed he had torn the cartilage of four ribs and was still in pain and, in fact, has been at home since the incident.

Throughout the attack Mr Chetcuti was shouting: "I will kill you. I will kill you". He repeatedly kept saying that even when Mr Abela and Mr Attard pulled Mr Chetcuti away from him, Mr Farrugia said.

"I'm sure that, had they not stopped him, he would have killed me", Mr Farrugia added.

Mr Abela and Ms Gauci, who had both heard the commotion and walked into the office while the attack was still going on, corroborated Mr Farrugia's version of events.

Mr Attard said he had taken Mr Chetcuti for a coffee before the meeting with Mr Farrugia because he seemed visibly agitated.

During the attack, Mr Chetcuti told Mr Farrugia he would kill him, Mr Attard said. At this point, Mr Chetcuti, seated in the dock, turned to his family sitting behind him and told them: "Veru" (it is true). He then turned to the press and repeated: "Veru".

Defence lawyer Edward Gatt asked the court to grant Mr Chetcuti bail once the main witnesses had been heard.

Magistrate Edwina Grima upheld the request against a personal guarantee of €10,000 and a deposit of €3,000.

Lawyers Kriss Busietta and Jean Carl Farrugia appeared parte civile.