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Caruana Galizia public inquiry | Insufficient evidence to prosecute Dalli, former police chief says

Former police commissioner Peter Paul Zammit testifies in the public inquiry into the murder of Daphne Caruana Galizia

matthew_agius
9 January 2020, 1:40pm
by Matthew Agius
1 min read
Former police commissioner Peter Paul Zammit
Former police commissioner Peter Paul Zammit
16:56 That's all for today's sitting. Thank you for following this live blog. David Hudson
16:56 On Tuesday 15 January, a confidential and anonymous testimony will be taking place. David Hudson
16:56 On Monday 14 January, MDA Head Sandro Chetcuti will testify alongside former acting police commissioner Ray Zammit. David Hudson
16:54 Michael Cassar has left the courtroom after 50 minutes of testimony. David Hudson
16:53 The press is allowed back in and the board is discussing whether or not to summon Malta Developers Association Head Sandro Chetcuti. David Hudson
16:35 Former police commissioner Michael Cassar is the last witness in today's session. David Hudson
16:33 Cassar's testimony continues behind closed doors. David Hudson
16:06 Cassar has told the courtroom that he is more comfortable testifying on this point and on administrative meddling he has made reference to without the presence of journalists and lawyers. This is why everyone apart from the Caruana Galizia family was asked to leave the courtroom. David Hudson
16:01 Operation Green was the title for an investigation into former chief of staff Keith Schembri and Brian Tonna of Nexia BT. David Hudson
16:00 Everyone is ordered out of the courtroom at this stage. Only family members are allowed to remain. David Hudson
16:00 "Not with respect to investigations,” he says. “Administratively, it was a slightly different story,” he says, but he doesn't specify how. David Hudson
15:59 Cassar is asked why he wanted to leave. Was there pressure, or interference? David Hudson
15:59 The day after it was opened, I went abroad. I had already decided to leave the force. In December I had decided to leave. David Hudson
15:57 Several politically exposed persons were mentioned in this report, he said. Nobody from OPM or ministries had contacted him about it. David Hudson
15:56 In case of doubt the file on Schembri is called "Operation Green," he said. The file number is CID/0442/E/16, he said. Opened on 8 April 2016. David Hudson
15:56 "Sometimes we would start work ourselves and pass it on to them... one of the things we don't want is a double file on the same case.” Cassar adds that he had stopped this system and introduced a single file system. David Hudson
15:54 He is asked about a brief on former chief of staff Keith Schembri. "As soon as the allegations started coming in, I asked if the FIAU was working on it and I was told that they were. When that happens we wait for them." David Hudson
15:52 "You can't just take it to court. Interrogations and statements must be made by the police." David Hudson
15:50 He was in favour of a change in the law allowing the police to proceed on the action of the FIAU. As it stands, when police receive the reports from the FIAU, the police cannot use all the evidence therein. David Hudson
15:47 "Originally, the FIAU had stronger powers than the police. They would often give us evidence, which we could not be presented in court because the law expects police to obtain its own evidence. David Hudson
15:45 Financial Intelligence Analysis Unit (FIAU) reports would land on his desk directly through the Commissioner when he was still an assistant commissioner. There was no interference in how he should handle them, he said. David Hudson
15:44 He never had any orders or instructions from the Office of the Prime Minister on this security arrangement, he said. Nobody would interfere in his investigations. David Hudson
15:43 He says: Daphne Caruana Galizia had fixed point protection from 9 to 20 March 2008, from 6 to 10 October 2010, from 10 to 12 March 2013 and from 4 to 6 June 2017. David Hudson
15:42 He is asked whether the protection system is centralised at police headquarters. "There is a file, a list dating back from 1998." Cassar pulls out a paper from his pocket. “This is the list of fixed points reviewed by the Commissioner of Police. There is no register of police patrols however, as frequent patrols are periodical by nature, he said. David Hudson
15:41 Michael Cassar had resigned as police commissioner, citing health reasons. David Hudson
15:39 "I have gone through this personally and continue to have it today,” he says. “I know what it is like to have the police with you as protection, it is not comfortable." David Hudson
15:39 The witness spent 38 years in the police force. David Hudson
15:39 "It occurred to me to have a fixed point... but John Rizzo had offered her and she had refused. I had a good relationship with her. When she felt threatened she would speak to me. I had no indication of any threat to her from the Malta Security Services." David Hudson
15:38 "I had found that patrols were being held there. They were frequent. I told them to add that when the patrol passes in front of her residence, it is to pay close attention to the residence and not keep on going," Cassar says. David Hudson
15:37 Michael Mallia asks him directly about the level of threat Caruana Galizia had. What had he found upon appointment? David Hudson
15:35 He served as commissioner of police from 9 December 2014 to 27 April 2016. David Hudson
15:34 Zammit has stepped off the stand. It is now former police chief Michael Cassar who takes the stand. David Hudson
15:33 "It was my decision to prosecute after receiving information that Vella had taken a photograph in a restricted area. The court decided otherwise and we must follow the court's orders" he said, referring to the court’s order to return Vella’s mobile phone. David Hudson
15:33 Commodini Cachia asks about proceedings against former TV presenter Norman Vella. Vella was accused of taking photographs with his phone of two government officials while working as an immigration officer at the airport. David Hudson
15:29 He is asked whether he is related to John Dalli. "He's a third degree cousin of my wife." David Hudson
15:29 The OLAF one was very lacking, he said, alleging that they had obscured facts. The shortcomings of the local police investigation was that it was working off suppositions made by a third party, he said. "In 4 months of investigation, no phone recordings were requested so there was a hole in investigations." David Hudson
15:26 Lawyer Commodini Cachia asks him whether the shortcomings he found related to the police investigation or the OLAF one. David Hudson
15:26 Rizzo was also of the opinion to interrogate Dalli again, “but what I also did was to go through the whole file again. There was insufficient evidence to prosecute.” After reading the preliminary report of the supervisory committee, he had made the decision not to proceed. David Hudson
15:25 Nobody had spoken to him about the case, he said. He might have been asked about it. "I can ascertain the board that I was never approached about the investigation." David Hudson
15:25 As far as he is concerned the case was not prosecuted because of defects in it. David Hudson
15:24 "I am tired of hearing this... this case was closed and then reopened. I did not close the Dalli case.” David Hudson
15:23 Said Pullicino asks him directly: "Assure us that your appointment was not to prevent action from being taken against someone." He points out that the case against Dalli was dropped a few days after his appointment. David Hudson
15:23 Kessler was the Director-General of the European Anti-Fraud Office up until 2017. David Hudson
15:22 The Supervisory Committee of OLAF's report had remained hidden till July 2014. OLAF is not answerable to anyone, not even the EU body which it represents. "In fact, Giovanni Kessler was fired in part as a result of this." David Hudson
15:21 As a result of this, he had sent for Dalli and interrogated him at length. He was very forthcoming, said Zammit. David Hudson
15:18 The report (opinion 2/2012) found very serious shortcomings. The investigation started on a mistaken premise, he said. David Hudson
15:18 "The small handover given to me by Rizzo, there was the case of Dalli. I stepped into his shoes with regard to this case. I saw the documentation, including the OLAF ones and started questioning certain shortcomings. It appears that they were also being questioned by the directorate which OLAF answers to and a report was made which was kept hidden until I left the post." David Hudson
15:16 "How do you feature in this issue?" the board asks Zammit. David Hudson
15:16 QUICK REMINDER: John Dalli, the former politician and European Commissioner was made to resign his post in Brussels after a bribery investigation by the EU's anti-fraud office, OLAF. Former police commissioner John Rizzo said in the previous sitting that he wanted to prosecute him and had discussed the case with minister Manuel Mallia but was then transferred out of the corps before anything was done. David Hudson
15:15 He is now being asked about the John Dalli case. David Hudson
15:13 It was very rare that he would discuss police matters with the ministry, he said. David Hudson
15:13 Speaking about his resignation from the police corps, Zammit says that "unfortunately, it appears that the ministry and chief of staff Silvio Scerri had different ideas of how the corps should change. It was a divergence of opinion. I wanted the corps to embark on a long-term education process. When I was appointed, 15 officers were studying law in their own time and not under orders. My first step was to tell them to go ahead and give them my blessing.” David Hudson
15:11 "It appears that my proposals were accepted. Muscat had not suggested any changes to the corp. There was no direct indication but the implication was that my proposals would be implemented." David Hudson
15:10 "I was sent for by the Office of the Prime Minister. Joseph Muscat asked me what I thought about the police, what I could do, and whether I wanted to accept the role,” he said, referring to when he was appointed police commissioner. David Hudson
15:09 Said Pullicino says that the board of inquiry is there to see if the institutions are working and not to apportion blame. He asks whether Zammit knew why he was appointed Commissioner after Rizzo, having left the force at a previous time. David Hudson
15:07 With regards to Caruana Galizia's security arrangement, Zammit said he could not say whether his orders were carried out or not. He assumed they were. David Hudson
15:06 Franco Debono is a former Nationalist MP and criminal lawyer. He had dogged the last years of the Gonzi administration and finally in 2012 brought the government down by voting against on a budget vote: Gonzi had just a one-seat majority which he won by a whisker. David Hudson
15:05 Peter Paul Zammit cites Franco Debono's security arrangements, says he still has a fixed point guard to date. David Hudson
15:02 Joseph Said Pullicino interjects, says that protection is not given for no reason. "We know where the trouble is coming from, she wasn't uncontroversial." David Hudson
14:59 Asked whether he had feedback from the Security Services about this arrangement, he said he never had any information from them about this. David Hudson
14:59 “As far as I'm concerned the frequent patrols continued. I gave no order for them to stop.” David Hudson
14:58 Asked if there is a register of persons at risk, he says: "I tell you that there is none. At least in my time there was none." David Hudson
14:58 “It could be that the deputy commissioner in charge of CID may have a register of these people, but it would not be available at HQ. This was not done during my time.” David Hudson
14:58 It’s not good to publish information relating to security arrangements for the sake of at-risk individuals, Zammit says. David Hudson
14:54 The order comes from headquarters but is registered at district level. "When I was appointed I didn't have to change the established procedure." David Hudson
14:53 The detail of duties at the local police station would contain minutes of any changes in security arrangements. There is no central register of these duties at police headquarters, he says. David Hudson
14:52 Judge Lofaro confronts him with former police commissioner John Rizzo's previous statement that there were fixed point security. "This was during the election period only, after that there were frequent patrols," Zammut replies. David Hudson
14:50 He remembered there was a parliamentary question about it a few weeks after his appointment. “The information I was given was that there was to be frequent patrols. I didn't change that,” he tells the court. David Hudson
14:48 Zammit served as Commissioner of police from April 2013 till June 2014, he said. He is asked about what protection measures for Daphne Caruana Galizia he had found upon taking on the role. David Hudson
14:48 The panel administers the oath. David Hudson
14:46 Former commissioner of police, legal procurator Peter Paul Zammit takes the stand. David Hudson
14:45 The courtroom rises as the judges emerge from chambers. Caruana Galizia's parents and sisters are present, as is Peter Caruana Galizia, the late journalist's husband. Lawyers Therese Comodini Cachia, Andrew Borg Cardona and Eve Borg Costanzi are also present. David Hudson
14:08 We are at the law courts in Valletta and are expecting the public inquiry into the murder of journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia to get underway. David Hudson
14:08 Good afternoon. David Hudson

Former police commissioner Peter Paul Zammit will be the only one to testify this afternoon as the public inquiry into the murder of Daphne Caruana Galizia continues.

Earlier, incumbent Police Commissioner Lawrence Cutajar was expected to testify but he will be doing so at a later sitting. Former police commissioner Peter Paul Zammit also testified today.

The inquiry is looking into, among other things, whether the State did enough to prevent the murder and protect the journalist.

In the last sitting, the Board heard former Police Commissioner John Rizzo explain how he had been forced out of his position soon after Labour came to power. It also heard Speaker of the House Anglu Farrugia describe how Keith Schembri had access to the fourth floor at Labour Party HQ, unlike Farrugia who was deputy leader of the party at the time.

Previous sittings heard how Keith Schembri had tried to associate Daphne Caruana Galizia’s murder with fuel smuggling by feeding misinformation to the media despite being privy to investigations.

Caruana Galizia family members had also described to the board the harassment they had been subjected too and how, after the 2013 election and following the Panama Papers revelations in 2016, the threats against Caruana Galizia had intensified.

Former judge Michael Mallia is chairing the inquiry board, while Chief Justice Emeritus Joseph Said Pullicino and Judge Abigail Lofaro are the board’s other two members. The inquiry's terms of reference stipulate that it must be concluded within nine months.

 

Matthew Agius was Senior Reporter on Law and Court Affairs at MaltaToday from 2014 to 2024...
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