Former police commissioner ‘never read John Dalli case files’

Ray Zammit admits to never having read the police files detailing their investigations against former EU Commissioner

Former acting police commissioner Ray Zammit briefs reporters on the sicilian's arrest. Photo Ray Attard
Former acting police commissioner Ray Zammit briefs reporters on the sicilian's arrest. Photo Ray Attard

Former acting police commissioner Ray Zammit told the Privileges Committee that he had never read police files detailing their investigations against former EU Commissioner John Dalli.

Former Police Inspector Angelo Gafa had previously told the committee that the Attorney General had written to the Police Commissioner in January 2013 requesting that he issue criminal charges against Dalli.

Zammit was summoned to the committee upon the Opposition’s request. The committee is investigating a breach of privilege complaint by Prime Minister Joseph Muscat against Simon Busuttil, for not retracting his claim in the House that Muscat personally intervened in the police investigation concerning bribery allegations against former EU commissioner John Dalli.

During a parliamentary debate in October 2013, Joseph Muscat asked Simon Busuttil to withdraw or substantiate an allegation he made in his regard.
Then, Busuttil had "come to the logical political conclusion" that the Prime Minister had interfered in the police investigation against John Dalli. Busuttil had argued that a series of political actions, mainly the appointment of Peter Paul Zammit as Police Commissioner and the reappointment of the team investigating the Dalli case, led him to deduce that there had been political interference in the case.

Zammit, acting commissioner between July and December 2014, said that he had never interfered in the case before or after he was appointed commissioner. However, he said that he wanted to wait for developments in the ongoing court case against Dalli’s former canvasser Silvio Zammit.

Zammit explained that he had set up a new investigative team within the Economic Crimes Unit to investigate the case- composed of Pierre Calleja, Jonathan Ferris, Antoine Casa, and  Pawlu Vassallo.    

He said that there was no handover from his predecessor Peter Paul Zammit as he would have felt “uncomfortable”, considering the storm that Zammit had departed in.

He recalled that, on 25 August, he had held a meeting at the Attorney General’s office with the new investigating team to discuss the case.  

“It was concluded that we will hold another discussion if there were any new developments,” he said.