CCTV footage in Freeport cigarette theft yet to be exhibited in court

Lawyers defending four Freeport workers accused of attempting to smuggle 10.5 million cigarettes, have complained that CCTV footage of the theft, which the prosecution had shown to several principal witnesses, has yet to be exhibited in court or handed to the defence.

Magistrate Anthony Vella is presiding over the compilation of evidence against freeport worker Roderick Borg, 32 from Qormi, 60-year old Customs official Sebastian Zammit from Safi, stevedore Malcolm Zammit, 35 from Qormi and 51-year old security officer Christopher Calleja from Valletta, who are pleading not guilty after being charged last month with complicity in the theft of a shipping container holding 10.5 million cigarettes worth a total of €304,500 and attempting to deprive the government of nearly €2 million in VAT, import duty and other taxes.

Calleja, who works as a security guard at the Freeport, is also charged with committing a crime which he was duty-bound to prevent.

Lawyer Joe Giglio raised the objection when this morning, during the testimony of Freeport security official, Inspector Stivala again made reference to the video which the police had shown to the witness.

Giglio pointed out that the prosecution was effectively summoning persons who had not seen anything and asking them to interpret video footage. “Criminal proceedings cannot be carried out this way," the lawyer complained.

Defence lawyer Robert Montalto also questioned why the prosecution was holding on to the video, instead of passing it on to the court and defence.

Prosecuting inspectors Rennie Stivala and Carlos Cordina defended the practice however, saying that the prosecution was not asking witnesses for opinions on what they saw, but about what should have been done according to the established procedures. Inspector Stivala explained that the video was currently undergoing expert analysis, after which it would be exhibited.

Whilst reminding the prosecution that witnesses are only to testify about facts, not their interpretations, the court said that it would permit this line of questioning for the time being.

Meanwhile, the witness, security official Carol Muscat explained that the footage he had seen shows that Chris Calleja had not opened the door to the container to check inside. In fact, the witness said, the video showed a truck parked up against the doors of the container, rendering them impossible to open. However, Muscat had not seen this event take place at the time as he was in his office and nobody brought it to his attention.

This afternoon, the court heard another senior security officer testify that Calleja should have been on patrol, but around 25 minutes before the patrol was scheduled to start, Calleja had gone up to him and asked to be assigned to another duty as he was in pain.

The court will continue to hear witnesses next week. Lawyers Edward Gatt and Veronique Dalli are also assisting the accused.