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Pressure mounts to issue European Arrest Warrant for John Dalli
Prosecution obtain postponement of proceedings against Silvio Zammit, after OLAF report is handed to magistrate.
31 January 2013, 12:00am
Karl Stagno-Navarra
Karl Stagno-Navarra
2 min read
John Dalli
A sealed envelope containing a copy of the OLAF report of the investigation which forced the resignation of Maltese former EU commissioner John Dalli last October, is expected to raise questions over its admissibility as evidence in charges brought against businessman Silvio Zammit, after it was discovered that the document was not entered in the court registry's records.
Zammit, 48 of Sliema, is accused with trading in influence and bribery after allegedly soliciting a €60 million bribe from Swedish snus manufacturers Swedish Match, in a bid to reverse an EU-wide ban on snus.
As John Dalli remains indisposed after falling ill and now recovering in a Brussels hospital, political pressure to have the former commissioner charged is said to be increasing, with officials talking of issuing a European Arrest Warrant for him, should he fail to return to Malta in the coming days.
Lawyers representing Dalli have presented medical certificates to prove Dalli's inability to travel. Should the European Arrest Warrant be issued against Dalli, he would be arrested by the Belgian police and charged before a Belgian Court, which would decide for a swift extradition to Malta.
A request to postpone proceedings against Zammi to March 14 was upheld by Magistrate Anthony Vella, after the OLAF report he received from the Attorney General remained sealed in his Chambers, and decreed to have only the defence lawyers to Zammit have access to it..
MaltaToday is informed that following a court decree ordering the Attorney General to submit the OLAF report as part of the proceedings against Zammit, this order was subsequently challenged by the Attorney General, whose office has insisted that the OLAF report would "prejudice their case" against other persons.
In another decree, dated January 29, Magistrate Vella rejected the arguments made by the Attorney General, and ordered that the OLAF report be made part of the proceedings against Zammit.
Despite the Attorney General's objection, the report was reportedly handed to Magistrate Vella in a sealed envelope and is being kept under lock-and-key in the magistrate's chambers.
While the police previously argued that submitting the report would be 'prejudicial' to their ongoing investigations, lawyers Edward Gatt and Kris Busietta stressed that the only reason for the prosecution's objection to submitting the report, was their interest in charging former Commissioner John Dalli.
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News from John: http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=OJ:C:2013:046:0024:0024:EN:PDF
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Was the European Arrest Warrant for John Dalli a bad joke or only hot air? Is John Dalli staying in Belgium or in Malta to day? What disease has John Dalli that he's staying in the hospital for several weeks and can´t come to Malta? Who still believes in Santa Claus?
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No news?
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No news about John Dalli? He is now in Malta or is he still in Belgium? What´s with the European arrest warrant against "Jonny Cash"? Was it a joke?
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No news about John Dalli? He is now in Malta or is he still in Belgium? What´s with the European arrest warrant against "Jonny Cash"? Was it a joke?
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Why ha no ody asked for arraignmentto of Match being the company that initiated this? Is is not normal that nothe th3 person bribed and WHO BRIBES are brwaking the law? But in Mlata we wanr to be holkertha holy, or is it some political move to close Dalli's mouth and destroy him. Dalli was the fou dation of PN BUT it seems thT PN used us and throw us away
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chi sbaglia paga
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The greatest form of perverasive show of power in this country is the power to delay and do nothing there goes our democracy down the drain just keep on posponing problems until they go away.
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Possibli din l-urgenza kollha imhabba ex ministru ta GonziPN? Mela jekk kien xi Laburist,x'kienu jaghmlulu dawn?
Bil-haqq setgha kien ta l-AD ghax bhal ma ghamlu lil previous chairman l-avukat li arrestawh go Brussels imhabba -taparsi- frodi tal-Vat!
Tinsiex Michael li taghtihomx xi skuza biex ipattuwilek fl-ahhar mumenti ta l-elezzjoni bhal ma ghamlu li ta qablek ghax dawn mangia santi u cacca diavoli!
Igor P. Shuvalov •
From which country is this political pressure coming? What's all the hurry to take Dalli to court? Is this part of a political strategy of somebody whose only interest is partisan politics and who is trying to get Dalli to court before the on coming general election?
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and we have it in another article where the prime minister is stating that the police force is not the same as that of thirty years ago......of course we are back to the middle ages....
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Oh wow! Maybe you know what the "qabza fil-kwalita'" is then? A kangaroo jump, because it looks like we're heading towards kangaroo courts. Viva the Banana Republic!
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Political pressure? Did I read correctly? Have we become the Most Serene Banana Republic? How can the Commissioner of Police or the Attorney General or the Minister for Justice read this and not deny it instantly. Goes a long way to show what type of democracy and rule of law we have in Malta. And a deferrment to March 14? Of course, nothing to do with the general election, right? How desperately we need a change!
