Former Enemalta chairman Tancred Tabone had his rights breached when he was forced to testify before a parliamentary committee over his alleged involvement in the oil scandal but this breach was not enough to annul the pending criminal proceedings against him, a judge has ruled. 

Tabone failed to convince the court that the testimony before the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) had breached his human right to a fair hearing to the extent that the criminal proceedings against him had to be dropped. 

Mr Justice Joseph R Micallef, presiding over the First Hall of the Civil Court in its constitutional jurisdiction, said that although the court had found that there had been a violation of Tabone’s fundamental right it did not see as appropriate his request for the annulment and suspension of the proceedings pending before the Magistrates’ Court and his release from those proceedings. 

He, however, ordered that the court hearing the criminal case should be made fully aware of this constitutional decision by way of remedy for Tabone’s breach of rights and for his “peace of mind” that the court is aware of his complaints of a constitutional nature. 

Tabone is undergoing court proceedings on charges of bribery and corruption in oil procurement during his tenure at Enemalta. He was charged in 2013 over alleged corruption in 2005 and his case is pending trial.

He had served as chairman of Enemalta and its offshore bunkering arm and was also secretly a director of a rival oil bunkering company, according to testimonies in court and parliament.

George Farrugia, local agent of giant oil supplier Total who had been given a presidential pardon on condition that he revealed all about the scandal had told the court that he was blackmailed by Tabone into giving him commissions on oil procurement and storage contracts. He claimed Tabone had told him to either pay up, or contracts would be given to another company. The commissions were shared between Tabone and his consultant Frank Sammut.

Tabone, who denies the claims, had been forced to appear before the PAC following a ruling by the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Anġlu Farrugia, in February 2014, while proceedings before the Criminal Court were still under way. Tabone had at first refused and then appeared and refused to reply to any questions put to him. 

After invoking his right to silence before the PAC, the Speaker of the House had ruled that when a witness raised an objection to any particular question put to him, on the ground of self-incrimination, the final decision to allow the question or otherwise was to be taken by the Speaker.

The court found that being called to testify before the parliamentary committee while still subject to concurrent criminal proceedings, amounted to a breach of the applicant’s right to a fair hearing and his absolute right to silence.