Updated | Pullicino Orlando accuses former Gonzi aide of lying under oath

The former Nationalist MP Jeffrey Pullicino Orlando has accused Gordon Pisani, former head of communications in Lawrence Gonzi’s secretariat, of lying under oath during his testimony in a libel case instituted by Richard Cachia Caruana.

Cachia Caruana, formerly Malta’s permanent representative to the EU, filed a defamation suit against MaltaToday managing editor Saviour Balzan over assertions he made in his newspaper column that poison-pen attacks from Malta Independent columnist Daphne Caruana Galizia on PN critics, had been guided by Cachia Caruana.

“Pisani lied under oath yesterday when he alleged in court that I had asked Daphne Caruana Galizia to write an article for me before the 2008 elections. I did not know Ms Caruana Galizia at the time and I am perfectly capable of writing an article myself. I was sent to Caruana Galizia’s house, accompanied by Pisani, by Richard Cachia Caruana who insisted that I leave the matter in her hands. He told me that Caruana Galizia wrote all campaign related articles for the PN,” Pullicino Orlando said.

Pisani yesterday said that he had accompanied Pullicino Orlando to Caruana Galizia’s house during the 2008 election campaign, to deflect criticism by Labour leader Alfred Sant over an irregular permit issued for a discotheque on the MP’s land in Mistra.

Pisani claimed it was Pullicino Orlando who wanted Caruana Galizia to ghost the article, ‘Street-corner gossip’, which appeared in The Times.

Gordon Pisani reaction

In a reaction to Pullicino Orlalndo's claims, Pisani denied his allegations. "In testimony I gave the PN's executive committee on his request and in his presence, in a statement I gave the 18 July 2012, I explained that it was Jeffrey Pullicino Orlando who was happy at having Caruana Galizia pen the article in his name. I did this, with information he supplied on 29 February, 2008. It was Pullicino Orlando himself who wanted somebody to ghost-write the article because he was in no state to write it. I explained that we went to Caruana Galizia's house in a car driven by one of his canvassers. Pullicino Orlando's allegation that Caruana Galizia wrote articles for the PN, is untrue."

Court case

Pisani on Monday confirmed having met Caruana Galizia at a meeting hosted by Richard Cachia Caruana at the Westin hotel in St Julian’s, and meeting her on other occasions during the 2008 electoral campaign. “Pullicino Orlando wanted to write an article in the Times to respond to an article by Alfred Sant, but felt that he wasn’t in a condition to do so. We went to Daphne Caruana Galizia to pass on the information so she could write the article for him. This was a voluntary action on his part.”

He tried to evade the question of who suggested they go to Caruana Galizia, insisting that Pullicino Orlando was not in a position to write it himself: “This was the only time she was asked to do so.”

Asked if Richard Cachia Caruana had been consulted before Caruana Galizia was contacted, he said that it  “was possible,” as Cachia Caruana was part of the PN strategy group.