I would have sacked Galea Curmi had he NOT called Police Commissioner – Gonzi

In separate yet identical comments to both the Sunday Times and the Independent on Sunday, Prime Minister Gonzi stood by the actions of chief of staff Edgar Galea Curmi, saying that he would have sacked him had he not made the controversial call.

“I would sack the head of secretariat the day I learn that faced with an accusation of abuse of power by the police, he does not take immediate action and phone the Police Commissioner, asking for an explanation,” Gonzi told both newspapers.

The statement goes on to add that “it was his duty to act immediate on the slightest hint and the police were politically motivated in their actions.”

Gonzi’s unequivocal defence of Galea Curmi’s controversial telephone call puts an end of days of speculation on what final position Gonzi would take.

The circumstances around the call came to light when, during a press conference with Police Commissioner John Rizzo earlier this week about police investigations concerning Christopher and Cyrus Engerer, MaltaToday asked him to confirm that the call took place.

During the call, Rizzo said that Galea Curmi also asked him to intervene with Christopher Engerer’s lawyer and clarify with him that the arrests were not politically motivated.

In a comment published in the Sunday Times, Galea Curmi himself writes how the fated call "might have been a mistake."

"With hindsight, that could well have been a mistake; not because I sought to ensure there was no political interference but because the indiviual [Cyrus Engerer] I was trying to reassure was not at all interested in being reassured that Nationalist Party governments do not interfere in the work of the police," he wrote.

Galea Curmi went on to say that "only those in the wrong try to hide anything" and said that he never tried to hide how the phone call between him and Commissioner Rizzo took place. "Faced with a serious allegation of police injustice, I did my duty," he insisted.