John Dalli held private meetings with tobacco lobbyists, former OLAF chief tells court

Former director-general of the European Anti-Fraud Office (OLAF) Giovanni Kessler told the court on Wednesday morning that John Dalli breached European Commission rules when he held irregular meetings with tobacco lobbyists during his tenure as EU Commissioner. 

"Members of staff and EU institutions are forbidden form holding private meetings with tobacco lobbyists," Kessler said as he testified via video link. 

Dalli stands accused of trading in influence and attempted bribery over an alleged €60 million bribe requested by his former aide Silvio Zammit to lift an EU-wide ban on snus tobacco. Dalli pleaded not guilty to the charges. 

Snus is a form of smokeless tobacco only available in Sweden under a derogation. It is banned elsewhere in Europe.

In 2011 the European Commission was preparing a new tobacco directive, with John Dalli being the EU Commissioner tasked with overseeing the legislation. He had to step down in October 2012 after allegations surgaced that Silvio Zammit used his contacts with Dalli to ask for a bribe from a Swedish tobacco company.

Kessler explained to Magistrate Caroline Farrugia Frendo that Commissioners cannot meet with lobbyists unattended, recalling that Dalli told investigators that he was aware of this rule.

He cited international treaties, the Treaty of the European Union, and the Code of Conduct for Commissioners as rules which prohibit commissioners from meeting with lobbyists informally. 

Kessler detailed one meeting held on 20 August 2010 at the Kempinski Hotel in Gozo, where Dalli met with European Smokeless Tobacco Council (ESTOC) president Tomas Hammargren, and Charles Saliba from the British America Tobacco Malta association, further joined by Silvio Zammit.

The former OLAF chief explained to the court that his office only came to know about the meeting from ESTOC's president himself. Kessler said Dalli later confirmed the meeting himself during an interview with the office. 

The defence objected strongly to Kessler's testimony, arguing that witnesses must testify on facts, not on what they think happened. Kessler himself objected back, insisting that such details emerged from several interviews held by OLAF. 

Kessler said Hammargren told investigators about the meeting and even produced a report, and that Dalli confirmed the meeting had happened months after he was appointed commissioner.

"You can easily check with Mr Zammit as well," Kessler said, to which the court replied, "Mr Zammit cannot confirm anything right now."

Zammit passed away last month.

Kessler added that Zammit told snus lobbyists that he was close to Dalli. Zammit held a meeting with snus producers in Stockholm, after which the Swedish industry established a direct communication channel with Dalli. 

This led to the appointment of Maltese lawyer Gayle Kimberley, who served as a consultant on behalf of Swedish producers and was tasked with lobbying the commissioner directly. 

She held a couple of meetings with Dalli between November 2011 and February 2012. However, Zammit told Kimberley not to attend a meeting scheduled for 10 February.

At the end of the sitting, defence lawyer Stephen Tonna Lowell insisted that Kessler's testimony was inadmissible as evidence as it was based on hearsay.

The case was adjourned to 11 May. 

Lawyers Stefano Filletti and Stephen Tonna Lowell served as defence counsel. Lawyer Antoine Agius Bonnici from the Attorney General's Office helped prosecute.