Former police chief denies leaking personal files

Former police commissioner Peter Paul Zammit has denied suggestions by the Data Protection Commissioner that he leaked confidential information on police inspector Elton Taliana to the press, and that he may consider legal action against shadow justice minister Jason Azzopardi, after he made comments implying he was guilty of the leak.

The IDPC's investigation revealed that the files in question, police inspector Elton Taliana's personal record with the corps, had been in Zammit's office between the summer of 2013 and July 2014, when he resigned from the corps. The investigation however did not determine who had actually leaked the documents, which were presented in court in March 2015 as evidence by MaltaToday in a defamation case filed by Taliana.

Zammit maintains that the files in question remained on his desk at the time of his resignation, one year after he was appointed to the position.

Taliana had been reprimanded by the Police Board for failing to inform his superiors of an error made by the CID, involving the arrest of a man for robbery.

Shadow minister for justice Jason Azzopardi, during a press conference yesterday, said it was "clearly" Zammit who was responsible for the leak. Azzopardi also called on the government to terminate Zammit's employment as the head of security for the upcoming Commonwealth summit.

The Times of Malta also retracted and apologised for a headline it ran on Wednesday 24 June, which read "Former chief of police copied records illegally".