The Mario Debono Case: On Being Prudent

GRTU strongly condemns the media that has taken a sharp and dangerous anti-GRTU stand in its reporting of the Mario Debono Court case. There is only one case in Court of an ex GRTU officer who is in Court as a result of a breach of the confidence GRTU members bestowed on him: that is the case of Sandro Chetcuti who according to the sworn evidence of the eye-witnesses, the  President, Councillors and senior employees of GRTU, assaulted the Director General of GRTU at the GRTU Headquarters on 11.03.2010.

Mario Debono has committed no crime in his capacity as GRTU officer and all attempts by certain sections of the media now known for their bias against the Malta Chamber of SMEs are baseless.

GRTU believes that what happened to Mario Debono can happen to many others in this age of rapid email purchasing. It is not uncommon for traders, or indeed individuals to order one thing and then find that actually they received something else. It is not unknown that in a large consignment one may find goods that are not covered by the necessary documentation. The company of which Mario Debono and the brothers Tabone are Directors believe that they have been tricked and that they committed no crime and indeed, as soon as they realised something was wrong, they themselves alerted the authorities rather than profiting from the mistake and took all action necessary to ensure that no harm was done to anybody.

They were initially charged a fine for this mishap, which however the Directors refused as they believed that they had committed no crime and they preferred to defend themselves in Court. This is something that so many businessmen do. That's why the Courts exist. Certain sections of the media also most unfairly brought up cases of trading of Mario Debono's firm with Government entities. So many firms deal with Government and it is most unjust for any one deal to be pointed out implying any foul play. These same journalists know that the proper way to handle suspicious cases of corruption or favouritism is to report with precise details to the police or else, if they have no reason whatsoever to prove foul play, to shut up and refrain from being defamatory. Mud slinging has for some people become a specialised trade. "Does Mario Debono, a person who devotes so much time, energy and brains to defending his colleagues in the pharmaceutical sector, deserve all the flak that some journalists, instigated by third parties who have an interest in besmirching Mario Debono and GRTU, are fomenting?" Asks Vince Farrugia on behalf of GRTU. "We believe that the answer is 'no'. We have acted diligently to ensure that while the case is sub-judice Mario Debono will not act as Officer of GRTU but we have no intention of punishing Mario Debono to satisfy his detractors when he has been steadfastly loyal to GRTU and has consistently obtained by secret voting the support of the absolute majority of businesses in the pharmaceutical section".

Many at GRTU believe that GRTU should act much more prudently than others who inspire of having persons with serious accusations in Court, continue to sustain the same in most senior position. But for certain inquiring journalists their enquiries are only GRTU targeted.