Former Safi mayor apologies to councilor in defamation case

The former mayor of Safi has apologised for allegations he leveled against Labour councilor Johann Mula, a court heard today.

Pietru Pawl Busuttil was accused of having slandered Mula during two local council meetings, accusing his father - a former police officer - of being involved in his frame-up back in 1986.

Busuttil was charged with the murder of Raymond Caruana, a Nationalist activist, in 1986. The trumped-up charges were never proven in court.

According to Mula, Busuttil told him during a council meeting of the 9 and 21 January, that his father, a police officer, would have brought about his death during his detention in 1986, and told Mula personally that he had "a know-how for organizing political frame-ups."

Tracing an identical line to the 1986 frame-up, it was Guido de Marco's son Mario - the Nationalist MP - to take up his late father's client's case.

De Marco told the court that Busuttil was apologizing for the exchange words.

Busuttil apologised in open court to Mula.

Magistrate Claire Stafrace Zammit declared the proceedings had been exhausted.