GRTU director asks court to ban publication of SMS messages

GRTU director-general Vince Farrugia has made a formal request to the law courts for a ban on the publication of text messages sent from his mobile phone to third parties before and after he sustained an assault by Sandro Chetcuti.

Former GRTU official Sandro Chetcuti, a construction developer, is accused with the attempted murder of Farrugia, 67, after assaulting him in the Valletta offices of the GRTU.

Magistrate Edwina Grima was informed of the written request this morning, which was deposited with the Attorney General.

Lawyer Kris Busietta, appearing in parte civile for Farrugia, had requested the omission of the text messages being presented by Chetcuti's defence counsel in a previous sitting, prompting strong objections from lawyers Manwel Mallia and Edward Gatt.

In the previous sitting, SMS messages presented by the defence showed that Farrugia was in contact with a third party, asking him to influence Malta Independent columnist Daphne Caruana Galizia in a bid to undermine his Chetcuti in her blog. "This is filth and Vince Farrugia wants to hide from it but he can't hide from it and I won't let him use a GRTU publication to continue his campaign," Mallia said, referring to a recent outburst against Mediatoday managing editor Saviour Balzan in the GRTU's pamphlet.

"I will defend every journalist's right to publish the material Vince Farrugia himself chose to write... this is what you get in a communist state, using power and influence to get your way against people."

The defence is also trying to discredit previous testimonies given by consultant radiologist Anthony Samuel, after questioning Samuel's integrity and accusing him of exaggerating the medical results because of his strong ties with the Farrugia family.

When he testified last July, Samuel admitted he knew Farrugia's family and denied denied altering the medical results. Under cross-examination, Samuel admitted having dated Farrugia's daughter Marie-Claire Farrugia, who is also a doctor at Mater Dei Hospital.