Witnesses summoned to testify in Sheehan shooting inquiry

An independent inquiry, tasked with establishing the facts surrounding allegations of a cover-up on the shooting incident of Wednesday 19 November, this morning interviewed a number of witnesses at Ta’ Bighi in Kalkara.

The inquiry, headed by retired judge Albert Magri, also includes former judges JD Camilleri and Philip Sciberras.

Witnesses summonsed this morning were MediaToday managing editor Saviour Balzan, Home Affairs Minister Manuel Mallia, chief of staff Silvio Scerri, Acting Police Commissioner Ray Zammit and police constable Paul Sheehan, charged with attempted homicide.

The inquiry was appointed by Prime Minister Joseph Muscat who bowed to pressure to focus the crosshairs of an independent inquiry on Manuel Mallia’s ministerial staff, and what happened on Wednesday evening to provoke the Opposition’s allegations of a ‘cover-up’ on the shooting incident involving security driver Paul Sheehan.

MaltaToday on Sunday reported that the home affairs minister’s chief of staff Silvio Scerri, who called MaltaToday on the night of the incident to ‘correct’ the newspaper’s initial report and insist that the shots Sheehan fired into a vehicle were “warning shots” fired in the air. On the following morning, MaltaToday confirmed that photos taken Wednesday night of the bullet holes in the rear of Stephen Smith’s vehicle had corroborated the newspaper's original report.

Muscat has gone on record saying that Mallia, who at the time of the incident was at the Floriana police headquarters, was neither on the scene nor had he given any instructions to Sheehan, almost exonerating his minister from political responsibility.

While Opposition leader Simon Busuttil has insisted that Mallia should resign, with a magisterial inquiry underway, Muscat announced a government inquiry to establish political responsibility into the incident.

The Opposition yesterday also presented a motion of no confidence in Mallia, insisting that Mallia should resign. While the PN has called for the motion to be heard with urgency in parliament, a date has yet to be decided by the House Business Committee.