Keith Schembri’s ‘persecution’

Our courts delivered another slap in the face to honest law-abiding citizens – Keith Schembri and his co-accused have all been acquitted over the phantom job for murder middleman Melvin Theuma.

Not because Theuma hadn’t been given that phantom job, but because Theuma refused to be cross-examined. So, all his testimony was conveniently discarded.

Besides, the prosecution botched the whole thing. They accused Yorgen Fenech of “misappropriation by a public official,” even though Fenech was not a public official. So he was acquitted.

The prosecution accused OPM customer care head Sandro Craus of the same crime, “misappropriation by a public official”. But Craus was a “person of trust” and did not fall under the legal definition of a public official. So he was acquitted, too.

Schembri was charged as an accomplice in the crime – “misappropriation by a public official”. But since there was no public official, there was no crime of misappropriation by a public official. And since there was no crime, Schembri could not have been an accomplice. So Schembri was acquitted, too.

Everything works like clockwork. Black is white and white is black. Multiple basic prosecution errors in those charge sheets proved life-saving for those accused. The semantics of whether a person of trust is a public official was enough of a pretext for the court to acquit. How easily dark stains wash away.

That Melvin Theuma was given a phantom job is in no doubt. He testified in court, under oath, to that effect. He testified that he was given that job by Chief of Staff Keith Schembri and Sandro Craus, the OPM’s head of customer care.

He also testified that although he never turned up for any work, he continued to receive a cheque every month. We’ve known that since at least December 2019.  

When news broke out of Theuma’s phantom job, Labour attempted to deny it. The principal permanent secretary, Mario Cutajar, claimed that there was no record that Theuma had even been given a government job. That was a big deal.

Theuma had been given a presidential pardon on condition of divulging the truth. Mario Cutajar’s claims that Theuma had never been in government employment cast doubts on Theuma’s honesty and credibility. But it also jeopardised Theuma’s pardon. If Theuma was lying, his pardon could be withdrawn.

But then Xarabank published evidence showing that Theuma had indeed been hired as a messenger/driver by a government entity, Labour could no longer deny Theuma’s claims.

Theuma had been telling the truth. Labour had to admit that the middleman in Daphne Caruana Galizia’s murder had been given a job with the state-owned Housing Maintenance and Embellishment Co Ltd.

Principal permanent secretary Cutajar tried to quibble. When challenged as to Labour’s conflicting claims about Theuma’s employment, he pointed out the distinction between the public service and the public sector.

At the time, Cutajar announced that “all relevant records were being preserved and passed on to the police”. The prosecution had documents to prove Theuma had indeed been given the phantom job. Theuma knew why he was being paid, and it wasn’t for being a messenger or a driver.

Theuma knows more than most the peril he is in. With his own ears, he heard the prime minister admitting to keeping in touch with Keith Schembri. He’s seen Joseph Muscat defending his friend Schembri, who is still being given government contracts. Theuma knows that Schembri still retains enormous power.

Theuma refused to be cross-examined. His original testimony was therefore deemed inadmissible. His whole testimony was scrubbed from the case to the delight of the accused.

When Theuma later changed his mind and submitted a note saying he was willing to be cross-examined, the magistrate refused his request.  The prosecution filed several requests to reintroduce Theuma as a witness, but Magistrate Monica Vella rejected each one. Now she’s acquitted all the accused.

That acquittal in defiance of the facts drains any and all trust in the entire judicial system. We know deep down that the whole system is rigged, but still hope that maybe one day true justice will come through.

That court decision sucks the last drops of blood out of that fading hope. And if the sense of injustice weren’t strong enough, out came Schembri playing the victim.

“A few minutes ago, I was just acquitted by the court over phantom criminal accusations started by the PN champions and organisations of their friends. This is the first criminal case decided in my favour with a series of cases that were started against me by the same circle of people who swore to destroy me – not because I did anything wrong, but because I am from the Labour camp, because I did a lot of good for the Labour party, the government and its people”, Schembri preened on Facebook. 

Such staggering shamelessness. Keith Schembri is now the victim.

Theuma admitted that he was the middleman in the assassination of Caruana Galizia and that he was remunerated for his efforts through a fake government job that paid him a monthly salary.

That dirty money came out of our taxes. Schembri and Craus set up that job for Theuma, according to his own sworn testimony. That is the indisputable truth.  

The public cannot help but feel deeply nauseous at the utter perversions deployed to exonerate those accused. That court judgment elicits sheer disgust at how facts can be manipulated, and the judicial process twisted to guarantee one outcome.

The country knows the whole system is rigged. Nobody even hopes for justice from our judicial system anymore.