Muscat: Former police chief ‘shouldered responsibility’ when he resigned

Prime Minister Joseph Muscat has said that a former commissioner of police he appointed to the role in 2013 had “shouldered responsibility” when he resigned as police chief last year.

Muscat said that both he and Peter Paul Zammit, appointed as a coordinator for security during national events after he was asked to resign, “mutually agreed” to have him move out of the post a day after the head of the EU’s anti-fraud agency, Giovanni Kessler, alleged that Zammit had not cooperated on three requests by OLAF to assist in an investigation concerning former European Commissioner John Dalli.

A damning report tabled in parliament Monday evening revealed that Zammit had instructed police officers not to press charges against a man who had assaulted police officers. The man was Zammit’s former client.

Zammit’s short tenure as chief of police was marred by repeated requests by the Opposition for his resignation, with Simon Busuttil demanding his resignation when he claimed that he was not arraigning the former European commissioner John Dalli on bribery charges related to an OLAF investigation, on “interference” by the prime minister.

Busuttil is facing a breach of privilege complaint in the House of Representatives over his claim.

“All issues tied to Zammit as chief of police finished when he no longer remained in that position,” Muscat said, defending the work being carried out by Zammit as national security coordinator.

Asked whether his position was tenable, Muscat said Zammit’s previous and current roles were not related. Pressed to say whether he trusted Zammit’s judgement, Muscat said that the information he received was that Zammit was doing a good job.

“You mistrust a person when you know that he’s not doing his job properly. The information I have is that he is doing a good job. If I didn’t trust him, he wouldn’t be there. He is there because he is proving himself. When we needed to take decisions, the decisions were taken. I know how to take decisions,” Muscat said.

In a reaction, the PN said that the people are now paying for Muscat’s mistakes.

“Muscat chose an untrustworthy power abuser to lead the police force and is now defending his choice,” PN deputy leader Beppe Fenech Adami and shadow justice minister Jason Azzopardi said in a joint statement. “It's not true that Peter Paul Zammi resigned as Police Commissioner because of the inquiry. He resigned as Commissioner before he even testified in the inquiry and a month before its conclusions were published.”