[WATCH] Byron Camilleri: ‘I offered to resign because it was the honourable thing to do’

Byron Camilleri insists that he offered to resign after the drug heist from the Armed Forces of Malta barracks because it is what good governance commands. 

Nonetheless, the Home Affairs Minister says he eventually decided to stay on because the Prime Minister told him so and Cabinet advised against the resignation. 

In an interview with MaltaToday, Camilleri states that the soldiers who failed to keep an eye on a container filled with confiscated drugs were still employed by the Armed Forces of Malta (AFM) because they must undergo specific procedures according to the Malta Armed Forces Act.

On Malta’s defence, Camilleri rejects the notion that the country is missing out by opting not to borrow money from the EU’s ReArm initiative. He insists the country has strengthened its defence throughout the years, joking that even PN leader Bernard Grech acknowledged the investments earlier this week. 

On Malta’s participation in an EU-UK military mission to help train Ukrainian soldiers in their battle against Russia, Camilleri says the AFM has formed part of the mission since its inception in 2022. But he insists the government “doesn’t believe in wars.” 

On former prison head Alex Dalli and his abysmal track record when it comes to prisoner mistreatment, Camilleri once again defends him. The minister insists Dalli is now playing a role more suited to his past as an AFM colonel. 

The following is an excerpt of the interview. 

Watch the full interview on maltatoday.com.mt, Facebook and Spotify. 

A few weeks ago, you announced that drugs were stolen from the AFM’s Safi barracks. People have been arraigned, but government also published its inquiry on the matter. One soldier was watching Netflix, another was asleep, it was a mess. Doesn’t this case show a gross lack of discipline in the AFM? 

This case has angered me deeply. When the inquiry was published, I was also disappointed. I was happy that the inquiry was very clear on my actions and the minister’s role. I’m very satisfied that in my time as minister we improved the working conditions, not just of the AFM, but all disciplined forces. So, you would expect a better job to be done… 

There were people who clearly failed and that was noted in the inquiry. Those people are facing disciplinary proceedings within the AFM, but this doesn’t reflect on the whole AFM… 

But it certainly reflects badly on the AFM’s leadership. The Brigadier was suspended but later reinstated. Doesn’t the leadership merit disciplinary action? 

The inquiry also delved into the Brigadier’s role, and that’s why government’s decision was to reinstate him. However, there are people who failed, and those people aren’t only in the AFM’s lower ranks. There are ongoing disciplinary procedures against a number of people in many ranks, and they’re going to answer for their actions. 

Are the soldiers who were on duty on the night of the robbery still part of the AFM? 

All people involved have disciplinary proceedings against them. The law within the AFM is a bit different than other workplaces, it details disciplinary proceedings. This is a process that the minister is not involved in. I’m informed that this process is at an advanced stage, and when it’s over, measures will be taken against those who’ve been found to have failed. 

When you broke the news, you also offered your resignation. Why? 

I thought that even if I had no role in all of this, as the inquiry shows, it was the right thing to do. As I told your colleagues, I offered my resignation more than once; I offered it to Cabinet because I felt that I had to take responsibility. The Prime Minister disagreed, as did Cabinet. I appreciate their trust in me but I felt it was the right thing to do… 

Alfred Sant said the Prime Minister should have accepted your resignation. Don’t you think the Prime Minister and Cabinet failed to uphold good governance by not accepting your resignation? 

I had a long discussion with the Prime Minister spread out on several days. I told Cabinet that I’m ready to accept responsibility despite the fact that the inquiry wasn’t published at the time. 

I respect Dr Sant and his opinion. My obligation was to speak with the Prime Minister and Cabinet and I acted on their decision and advice… 

A few days ago, the European Commission published a White Paper on voluntary debt related to defence investments. The Prime Minister said Malta would not take one cent from this fund. Isn’t this a missed opportunity to invest in our defence capabilities? 

This government has substantially increased not just the AFM’s resources, but all disciplined forces’ resources. We didn’t wait for this time to invest. The irony is that after the AFM case, the Opposition slammed me for not investing in the AFM. This week in parliament the Opposition leader, in order to make the argument for war that the PN is making, mentioned a list of investments in the AFM. 

I had fun listening to this because he was acknowledging our investments. The investments were all aimed at what we need… To do this, I’m lucky enough that every time we knocked on the Finance Ministry’s door, they gave us the funds we needed… 

The Prime Minister said other countries make the decisions they need to make; we won’t stop anyone from making those decisions. We make our own decisions with respect to our neutrality, and government deeply believes in neutrality… 

A few days ago, it was revealed that Malta is participating in a military mission to help train the Ukrainians. While we hear ‘war is bad’, Malta is aiding Ukraine fight off Russia in principle. Why was this operation kept secret? 

Malta is not sending anyone to war. We are not letting any official train soldiers to go to war… The fact that we’re neutral doesn’t stop us from giving solidarity to Ukraine. We sent humanitarian aid and non-lethal weapons to Ukraine. All that we do is a form of humanitarian aid because we believe in peace and diplomacy, not war. 

We believe that if a nation is struggling, we should help. Malta’s role in this mission is an administrative role in the UK. We train nobody. Malta has been part of this mission since 2022 and there is legal advice from the State Advocate that says we wouldn’t be breaching our neutrality… 

Let’s change the subject. Despite everything, government is still defending Alex Dalli. He is still employed by your ministry. Why keep defending him? 

[...] When you have chaos and drug barons in charge of prison, you cannot rehabilitate inmates… 

You can’t rehabilitate by breaking inmates’ rights either. 

We shouldn’t break anyone’s rights and I think our track record shows that we believe that people should be given a chance to rehabilitate themselves… 

Now Alex Dalli has a different role tied with our relationship with Libya and irregular immigration. That decision was taken in 2022. The role is closer to what he had worked on within the AFM, and I think Malta’s results in irregular immigration in recent years are clear… 

A few days ago, we heard that seven fake ID documents were found and not thousands. But last year we still saw many cases of people receiving mail addressed to people who don’t live in their house. Are there any investigations into this? 

A few months ago in this very room, I was with Kurt Sansone from your newspaper. Watch that interview and see since that day, who acted responsibly. One can make out who acted cheaply and who repeated allegations of 18,000 fake ID cards. 

Back then, Identià explained that when it found alleged wrongdoing, it went to the police before any media report. We collaborated with the police so that anyone who was allegedly in the wrong would answer for their actions. 

Identità was correct, we were correct, and the Opposition leader and Darren Carabott acted most irresponsibly. God forbid they were in the driving seat of the country. 

A few days ago, the Malta Communications Authority issued a warning to mobile service providers telling them that it is finding instances where they don’t require customers to provide their ID documents, so clients use any address they want. 

Even with regards to the Health Department, at the time they said they’ve found mistakes and are working on them.