Two threatening letters mailed to Repubblika president Robert Aquilina by an anonymous sender who signed off as 'ex-PN', were a “photocopy” of Labour's narrative, court was told on Monday.
The letters form part of a series of offensive mail sent to various public figures that were traced to Joseph Mary Borg, a 71-year old Valletta resident, who is now facing criminal charges.
The first letter reached Aquilina on August 28 and was mailed to the private residence of his brother, PN MP Karol, who lives close by.
The second letter landed at his own home on October 27, said Aquilina when taking the witness stand on Monday in the ongoing compilation of evidence before Magistrate Astrid May Grima.
The letters had been sent around the same time that the civil society NGO had resumed its public protests.
A member on the PL side had voiced concern about Aquilina’s personal safety and had even taken him aside, telling him to “promise to take precautions” in view of the hatred that was being fomented against him, Aquilina explained.
The sender of the letters had obviously traced his home address which was separate from that of his office and was not public, the court was told.
Those letters, written in the same distinctive hand and replete with vulgar and offensive language, bore signs that the sender was “brainwashed” and did not tolerate opposite views, said Aquilina.
"Have fun with your wife and have another daughter (Oqghod ilgħab mal-mara u agħmlilha tifla oħra) one letter read, said the witness, as he scanned snippets from copies he retained after handing over the originals to the police.
The sender evidently knew that Aquilina had fathered three daughters and that in itself was felt to be a threat.
The text also showed that the sender was aware of police security stationed outside Aquilina’s home.
Reference was also made to Aquilina’s late father, a former PN mayor at his hometown Siġġiewi, whom the sender described as “perfdu” (wicked) possibly because he had objected to a development project which would have negatively impacted the locality and the environment.
'Son of bad blood'
The anonymous sender even described Aquilina as “son of bad blood,” evidently aware of the fact that his father had died of leukaemia.
There were other offensive comments in respect of Aquilina’s wife as well as mention of the bomb that killed Daphne Caruana Galizia.
“Was the bomb reference somehow linked to you,” asked the magistrate.
“No,” replied Aquilina, explaining however that the thought was in itself unnerving.
Threats could take various forms, said Aquilina, recalling a remark by a top Mafia boss known as il-Papa, who had addressed the judge, auguring that he would perform his work serenely and that he would enjoy “a long life”.
That was evidently a veiled threat, explained Aquilina.
He had flagged his concerns to the police and subsequently received a visit by Assistant Commissioner Stephen Mallia and an inspector who followed up the case.
Acting on police advice, the Aquilina couple had also taken necessary precautions by speaking to the administration at their daughters’ schools.
The first letter had also mentioned his brother Karol and bore clear reference to Jason Azzopardi, Simon Busuttil and Azzopardi’s partner, labelling them all as “traitors” and tarnishing the country’s image.
That was the Labour Party narrative and those letters were “photocopies of that narrative,” said Aquilina.
The first was written at a time when Repubblika was strongly criticising former PL Minister Edward Zammit Lewis in view of his “strong links” with murder suspect Yorgen Fenech.
Signed, ex-PN
The other letter arrived around the time that the NGO had staged a 72-hour protest outside Police Headquarters.
Aquilina said that the first letter was signed off as “ex PN voter-councillor,” while the second one “ex-PN.”
Aquilina had received another letter in a critical tone that he had not felt the need to report.
Days after the previous court sitting which was postponed, another female politician had posted a comment about an anonymous letter she had received and Aquilina had immediately recognised the handwriting.
It was in the same handwriting as his own letters, he testified: “it was so distinctive.”
Following those letters, a member from a foreign NGO had advised him to beef up security at his home and had even forked out funds to that effect.
Although the threats never materialised, they certainly had a psychological impact on himself and his family, Aquilina concluded.
The case continues in May.
Inspector Kurt Farrugia prosecuted. Lawyers Henry Antoncich and Joseph Calleja were defence counsel. Lawyer Therese Comodini Cachia appeared parte civile.