A magistrate who received a call from a prosecutor of a money laundering case she is hearing over an incident involving one of the accused has turned down a request to recuse herself, insisting that they did not discuss the case.
Magistrate Donatella Frendo Dimech refused a request by Josef Majri after a prosecutor from the Attorney General’s office testified in court that he had called the magistrate over a gesture that he allegedly made towards him in a Valletta bar.
Majri and three other men are facing criminal proceedings where they stand accused with money laundering by placing bets on sporting events with the proceeds of drug deals.
Lawyer Andrea Zammit, who is prosecuting Majri in the money laundering case before Magistrate Frendo Dimech, had called the magistrate following that chance encounter with the 26-year-old in a bar in Strait Street on 20 May. According to the Zammit, Majri had made a gesture with his thumb and index finger extended in Zammit’s direction.
The two-finger gesture landed Majri in court for allegedly threatening the lawyer as well as breaching two previous bail decrees. He is pleading not guilty.
Majri requested Frendo Dimech to withdraw from hearing his case after Zammit testified during separate proceedings that he called up the magistrate to inform her about the incident. Zammit insisted that he only called up Frendo Dimech because “he feared for his safety” and stressed that he did not attempt to influence the case.
In turning down the request, the magistrate said the two did not discuss the money laundering case and stressed that it was Zammit who called her and not the other way around. She said she brought this call to the attention of the parties in open court at the next available opportunity.
The magistrate said Zammit never mentioned the merits of the case she was hearing and that she never expressed an opinion or judgment over the incident that was being reported.
Majri’s defence lawyers, Franco Debono and Marion Camilleri, asked for the case to be postponed to consider their options following the decree.