‘My father covered up for Dalli’, says PN local councillor in Facebook reaction

The son of the late Silvio Zammit, the former PN local councillor who faced charges of having solicited a €60 million bribe to influence tobacco rules piloted by former European commissioner John Dalli, has claimed his father had “covered up” for the former politician.

Zack Zammit, today a councillor for the PN in the Sliema local council, took to Facebook in a reaction to a press conference by Dalli, who told the press he was not responsible for Silvio Zammit’s claims back in 2012 that he could influence the Tobacco Products Directive if he were paid a substantial sum by the smokeless tobacco lobby.

Zammit had then been approached by a Maltese lobbyist for snus producers Swedish Match, to gain access to John Dalli, who was set to publish a review of European tobacco laws.

But Zack Zammit claimed his father had covered up for Dalli.

“The public must know that everything that was said about John Dalli regarding a €60 million bribe was true. Yes, true,” he said. “Our father told us many times how the situation had played out, but his loyalty towards Dalli meant he would always stick his neck out for him and make sure he is never caught out.

“Silvio Zammit was taken to court over this case instead of John Dalli. Dalli should be a man about this and admit that he should have faced those criminal proceedings instead of my father.”

John Dalli is still facing charges of trading in influence, brought against him in 2021. Although he was set to face the charges in 2013, former Commissioner of Police John Rizzo claimed the election campaign of that year made it impossible for them to issue the charges in such a politically-charged climate.

Zammit had always denied charges against him, which remained pending up until his death in February 2022, with numerous delays from the prosecution hampering the process. His lawyers accused the Attorney General of dragging its feet after insisting on hearing the testimony of Estoc official Inge Delfosse, who was refusing to testify in Malta to avoid incriminating herself, before declaring their evidence closed.

Dalli denies accusations

Meanwhile, replying to Zammit's accusations, Dalli insisted he was unaware about the discussions taking place between Silvio Zammit and the tobacco lobbyists. "We never spoke about meetings the lobbyists wanted to have with me. We never spoke about money," Dalli said, describing the accusations as "calumnies".