Updated 7.20pm

Karl Cini was found guilty of breach of privilege after invoking his right to silence on all questions put to him in front of parliament’s public accounts committee but was given the last chance to come in line.

Speaker of the House Anġlu Farrugia ruled on Wednesday that although witnesses had the right to silence and not reply to questions that might incriminate them, this right was not a blanket and unconditional one.

He reiterated that witnesses appearing before the PAC cannot invoke their right to silence at a whim but only if the questions are incriminating.

He delivered the ruling at the request of Public Accounts Committee chairman Darren Carabott, who repeated a request for guidance after Cini again refused to answer any of the questions put to him by the committee members on Tuesday.

The former Nexia BT partner again stonewalled questions on Tuesday, continuously reciting the phrase “I exercise my right to silence,” in reply to every question committee chairman Darren Carabott asked.

In his ruling, the Speaker said that witnesses can opt not to answer questions if they are facing criminal charges on the matter being discussed during committee proceedings or if they feel that they would be incriminating themselves by answering those questions. However, this could not be used indiscriminately or in an uncontrolled fashion.

Should Cini again refuse to answer questions, he will most likely be referred to parliament's Privileges Committee. That committee, which the government controls with a 3-2 majority, can authorise the Speaker to order the police to take Cini to court, or else decide to let him off with an admonition.  

A repeat performance

Cini had already stonewalled all questions put to him when he first appeared before the PAC on February 1. He even refused to confirm his profession or elaborate on his role in Nexia BT, with Farrugia ruling against him on that occasion. 

Farrugia again repeated most of his decision in the latest ruling but this time found Cini in breach of privilege for ignoring the previous ruling. He gave him the last chance to come in line.

He said Cini cannot be asked anything related to the pending money laundering case. He and his fellow Nexia BT partners Brian Tonna and Manuel Castagna, and office manager Katrin Bondin Carter face charges of money laundering, forgery and other crimes in relation to inquiries into former OPM chief of staff Keith Schembri. They are all pleading not guilty.

Farrugia ruled that any questions related to any of the co-accused are not permissible as Cini had the right to remain silent on these pending criminal proceedings.

However, it does not seem that the Electrogas contract in any way featured in this pending case, Farrugia said, as he quoted Cini’s defence lawyer Steve Tonna Lowell as saying that the charges related to money laundering between 2005 and 2019.

In his ruling, Farrugia spoke about the possibility that such hearings are held behind closed doors and even asked whether it was time to change the law, similar to other parliaments, where witnesses testifying before parliamentary committees are covered by parliamentary privilege and cannot be used in court proceedings.

In a reaction, Maltese MEP David Casa said that Cini should also be made to answer for his role in creating off-shore companies for high-profile clients like Keith Schembri and Konrad Mizzi related to the Panama Papers scandal. 

"The Maltese expect answers on his role in designing the corrupt structures that siphoned millions from the taxpayer all the way to Panama," Casa tweeted.

"That includes the owner of Egrant, whom Karl Cini knows."