Labour electoral commissioner ‘warned voter to keep quiet about mis-delivered voting document’

An expatriate voter has told a court that the Labour Party’s former electoral commissioner had warned him to keep quiet about the fact that his 2013 general election voting document was in Joseph Falzon’s possession.

Switzerland-based Benedict Grech told Magistrate Josette Demicoli that he had received a phonecall from Joseph Falzon on his mobile two days before the election asking him to meet him at the Gżira Orpheum. When he went there, Falzon allegedly handed him his voting document.

Grech filed an official complaint with the Electoral Commission when he did not receive a satisfactory explanation from Falzon as to how he had come to be in possession of his voting documents.

The testimony was heard during the compilation of evidence against the 57 year-old former electoral commissioner, charged with unlawful possession of voting documents.

Also charged are the two policemen responsible for distributing the documents, Roberto Magro and Daniel Busuttil. The pair are charged with handing voting documents to persons other than the voter and committing a crime they were duty bound to prevent. The three accused have all pleaded not guilty.

Lawyers Stefan Zrinzo Azzopardi, Toni Abela and Jason Grima, representing Falzon and  Magro, interjected, requesting the court to caution Grech as his testimony was potentially self-incriminating, but police Inspector James Grech accused the lawyers of doing so in order to intimidate a witness. Lawyer Joe Giglio, representing Busuttil, did not.

But Grech was undeterred. In spite of being cautioned by the magistrate that he was opening himself up to prosecution, he stood by his statement. “I came here and swore an oath to tell the whole truth, so I will tell the truth. If it is then used against me, so be it.”

Grech recalled how, upon going to the police station to pick up up his voting document he was informed that the document had already been collected. Upon being shown the signature, he noted that it was not his.

Subsequently, said Grech, Falzon had called him up asking to meet next to the Gżira Orpheum, to pick up his voting document. He observed that the inside of the Orpheum were multiple boards for the various districts, set up to monitor the progress of the election results.

Falzon could not adequately explain how he had ended up being in possession of Grech’s voting document, so Grech informed him that he would be filing an official complaint. He recalled Fazlon then warning him that “It would be better for you, if you kept this quiet.”