Police plan to appeal acquittal of Christian Borg

The police plan to appeal the court’s decision to acquit Christian Borg of perjury.  

On Tuesday, Borg was cleared of perjury charges in a civil case after the prosecution failed to produce the most crucial piece of evidence needed for the proceedings.

Superintendent Gabriel Micallef, who led the prosecution, failed to submit the transcript of Borg’s testimony in front of magistrate Vella needed to establish perjury.

READ ALSO: Christian Borg’s acquittal: The hallmarks of criminal intent

Police told the Times on Wednesday that they had officially filed an appeal, but did not respond to questions on disciplinary action against the prosecuting officer.

Following Borg’s acquittal, the Nationalist Party (PN) criticised the prosecution’s handling of the case. Shadow minister Karol Aquilina said he personally visited the court registry to demonstrate how quickly an authenticated copy of Borg’s testimony could be obtained.  

“At 11:30 this morning, Dr Aquilina went to the Court Registry and requested to see the file of the civil case in question. He was given the file without any issues. Copies of the seven pages relevant to the criminal case were then made. These copies were authenticated as "true copies of the original" and were stamped. This entire process took only 12 minutes! By 11:42 am, Dr Aquilina left the Court building with the authenticated transcript in hand.”

Christian Borg first gained national attention in 2022 when he was among four men charged in a botched kidnapping, during which they allegedly threatened to torture their victim and rape his sister.

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Last year, Borg and his associates were charged over tax evasion and money laundering. A court had heard that his construction and rental car companies had claimed VAT refunds on invoices, issued at a time when the issuing person had in fact been behind bars.

In 2018 when he was already an MP, Prime Minister Robert Abela netted €45,000 from a property deal with Borg. Abela served as a lawyer to Borg, as well as the Planning Authority's legal consultant in the past.