Whistleblower accuses Busuttil of ‘political point-scoring’

Counter-protest by Joe Cauchi accused Opposition leader Simon Busuttil of using his influence to pressure him into changing his version of events and give false testimony

Joe Cauchi (left) with his lawyer Robert Abela
Joe Cauchi (left) with his lawyer Robert Abela

Works-for-votes whistleblower Joseph Cauchi has filed a counter protest, following the submission of a judicial protest by PN leader Simon Busuttil.

In the counter-protest, filed in the Gozo court of Magisrtates this morning, Cauchi’s lawyer, Robert Abela, rebutted the allegations made by Busuttil and said the PN’s reply suffered from so many deficiencies in form, that it was legally useless.

He accused Busuttil of filing it simply as a political propaganda, point-scoring exercise.

It accused Busuttil of using his influence to pressure Cauchi into changing his version of events and give false testimony. Instigating false testimony and exerting pressure on legally protected persons such as whistleblowers is a criminal offence, Abela added in the counter-protest.

It described the PN leader’s claims as contradictory, noting that “while Cauchi had been confirming his version of facts in court on the 26th of May, Busuttil had spoken about his meeting with Cauchi, and now through this judicial protest, he is alleging that Cauchi had perjured himself and was making defamatory statements.”

The protest describes this action as unprecedented and amounted to tampering with the processes of justice by putting pressure on the presiding magistrate.

The counter protest is in reply to a judicial protest filed by the PN leader, following Cauchi’s testimony before the Gozo courts on Tuesday. In it, Busuttil described Cauchi’s allegations about being told off for accepting jobs from the Gozo ministry because the PN was going to lose the election was “sheer nonsense.”

He denied the mention of works for votes or false invoices during his meeting with the contractor, but had simply said that there was no reason for financial commitment not to be honoured because of a change in government.

Busuttil had decried the allegations, describing Cauchi as a "self-confessed crook" who was after his pound of flesh because he realised he would not get paid for his underhand dealings. He is alleging that Cauchi’s real motive for making the allegations was to increase his likelihood of getting paid for the illegal works which he admitted to have performed.