Witness confirms Silvio Zammit sought €60m

Gail Kimberly, one of the people questioned by the police in the Silvio Zammit case, told a court this afternoon that Mr Zammit had requested €60 million to use his services for the lifting of the EU ban on snus. Mr Zammit, a former associate of John Dalli, is accused of trading in influence when Mr Dalli was EU Health Commissioner responsible for reviewing the Tobacco Directive. He is denying the charges. The prosecution is claiming that Mr Zammit had asked for €60m from Swedish snus-maker Swedish Match for his assistance. Dr Kimberly, a lawyer who worked for Swedish Match, was giving evidence during the compilation of evidence against Mr Zammit. She said she had received a call from Swedish Match saying that they knew that Mr Zammit could set up meetings with Mr Dalli and they asked her whether she was interested in helping them. She had to legally analyse the snus issue and help the lobby for the ban to be lifted. She had to help by providing, legal, scientific, competition, and technical arguments for the lifting of the ban. The company asked her to confirm if the meeting with Mr Dalli could happen. Silvio Zammit told her the meeting could happen. Dr Kimberly said she had...