Opposition raises breach of data retention rules by police

The Nationalist Party is raising a possible breach of data retention laws over claims by the Commissioner of Police that he checked telephone logs that confirmed that ministerial aide Silvio Scerri had not contacted Darryl Luke Borg.

Nationalist Deputy Leader for Party Affairs Beppe Fenech Adami and Home Affairs Spokesperson Jason Azzopardi claimed that Peter Paul Zammit's alleged inspection of call logs was not covered by data retention laws.

The laws allow police unfettered access to fixed and mobile telephony and ISP data, which is retained by companies over a period of six months, but only for investigations for acts constituting "serious crime". These are defined as anything that could lead to imprisonment of over one year.

Scerri, chief of staff to Home Affairs Minister Manuel Mallia, was accused by the PN of having been in contact with former convict Charles 'iz-Zambi' Attard to allegedly act as a middleman for Darryl Luke Borg, whose wrongful prosecution in a hold-up is the subject of an inquiry by the Police Board.

Borg was said to have testified to the Police Board on the advice of Scerri, and according to the Opposition, after Attard had approached Borg.

On his part, Commissioner of Police Peter Paul Zammit claimed his inspection of telephone logs showed that it was Borg who had made contact with the ministry for home affairs.

"In its reply to PN media, the police said that its power to ask for a copy of telephone call logs stemmed from legal notice 198, but these rules allow the disclosure of such data only in the investigation, detection or prosecution of serious crime," Jason Azzopardi said yesterday.

Home affairs shadow minister Jason Azzopardi added that Zammit's alleged inspection of the call logs was not related to a serious crime, but to accusations that the minister's chief of staff had been in contact with Darryl Luke Borg or his mother.

The 2008 rules came into force after police investigations in the arson attacks on the residences of MaltaToday editor Saviour Balzan and Malta Independent columnist Daphne Caruana Galizia in 2007, wherein the police were prevented from access to mobile phone location data.

"The police investigator in question was, ironically, Peter Paul Zammit," Azzopardi remarked. "Police had been refused the data by the telecoms companies. When the data protection commissioner approved the request, the telecoms companies challenged the decision in court. In his decision, Appeals Court Judge Philip Sciberras said that the law's intention was not that it be used as a Trojan horse to breach confidentiality. If it allowed such an action, Malta would be like a police state," Azzopardi added.

According to the Nationalist MP, "The Police may in the future use the quoted law to obtain logs on lawyers' clients and media sources".

"The blatant breach of law is extremely worrying and raises serious questions on how much the citizens can enjoy the peace of mind that their privacy is being respected," Azzopardi said, while revealing he plans on asking the Data Protection Commissioner to investigate the case.

Throughout the press conference, both Azzopardi and Fenech Adami kept questioning why Commissioner Zammit, Home Affairs Minister Manuel Mallia and Prime Minister Joseph Muscat "are so intent on protecting Silvio Scerri".

"Six months ago the country elected a Labour government on the battle cries of transparency, accountability, good governance and the protection of civil rights and liberties. Yet today, the same government has breached a fundamental right for privacy in the most obscene and blatant way," Fenech Adami insisted.

The Opposition, while citing data protection rules in the alleged breach of privacy in how the information was obtained, has also called for the same information to be published.

Asked whether making the call logs public would also constitute a breach of privacy, Azzopardi said he wouldn't know as he was not "an expert in data protection".

"But publishing the call logs would also confirm whether what the police commissioner said is true or not," the MPs added, prompting journalists to ask whether Peter Paul Zammit enjoyed their trust.

"After all that has happened, our trust in the police commissioner is diminishing," Fenech Adami said.

He also denied the Opposition was carrying out a character assassination of the commissioner: "We are not here digging for some story. He made a statement and we acted upon it."

Reiterating their call for the home affairs minister and the prime minister to shoulder their responsibilities, the MPs said the Opposition would keep on "building pressure until this abuse stops".

"Administrative and political responsibilities must be shouldered."

Opposition harps on 'interference' with Police Board inquiry

For the past three weeks, the Opposition has been questioning Silvio Scerri's involvement in the Police Board inquiry which is seeking to establish how an innocent man was accused of a crime he didn't commit.

In the first press conference he held, Jason Azzopardi alleged the home affairs ministry contacted Darryl Luke Borg. Seemingly having discarded this version, but now wanting the call logs to be published, Azzopardi continues to allege that iz-Zambi was used as a go-between by Scerri.

Azzopardi has also claimed there was "an ongoing campaign" against Police Inspector Elton Taliana, the officer who arraigned the real culprit in the Birkirkara hold-up.

On Sunday, MaltaToday published exclusive documentation showing Taliana had been investigated over an arson attack on Mediatoday managing editor Saviour Balzan's home and over his alleged close links to criminal elements and the possession of two separate identity cards.

When asked to comment, Azzopardi said he "holds no brief for anyone and will not defend anyone who may have breached the law, whoever he may be".

In a sworn statement which Borg's mother made on Saturday morning, she claimed that iz-Zambi, known to her son, had approached Darryl and told him to go with him "to speak to someone". However, at no point did the affidavit explicitly confirm that Silvio Scerri contacted iz-Zambi or that Scerri wanted to speak to Borg.

Scerri has also denied knowing who Attard was until that infamous 13 August afternoon meeting.

However, Azzopardi's argument is "Why would iz-Zambi show any voluntary interest in Darryl Luke Borg?"

The Opposition has also suggested Scerri "wanted to discredit Taliana" based on the mother's affidavit. She declared "feeling she was being interrogated over Taliana" by Scerri.

"While we are not here to defend him there is an orchestrated campaign to discredit the inspector," Fenech Adami said.

The government has defended Scerri, insisting that the home affairs ministry had the "duty and obligation" to listen to the victim.

But according to Beppe Fenech Adami, this shouldn't have been the case. "There is a police board inquiry going on and the top ministerial official should have known better than to speak with the victim, irrespective of whoever requested the meeting," he said. "He [Scerri] should be competent enough to know and understand this."