Updated | Busuttil says police commissioner must resign, Zammit: Dalli investigation still open

Updated

Nationalist leader Simon Busuttil has called for the resignation of Commissioner of Police Peter Paul Zammit, after his predecessor yesterday told a court that both the police and the Attorney General had agreed some time between late 2012 and early 2013 that former European commissioner John Dalli should be charged on allegations of bribery.

Former police commissioner John Rizzo yesterday told a court during the compilation of evidence against Silvio Zammit, who stands accused of bribery, that both his investigative team and the Attorney General Peter Grech had agreed to issue charges against Dalli.

In a press conference, Busuttil today said that the police had been unable to press charges against Dalli, who was seeking medical treatment in Brussels between 2012 and 2013 after being questioned by police in Malta. "Coincidentally, Dalli returned to Malta on the same day that Peter Paul Zammit was appointed police commissioner... Dalli said he was sick, and suddenly he felt well enough to return."

Peter Paul Zammit was appointed police commissioner following the election of the Labour government.

"This is not a question of whether John Dalli is guilty or not, but of political interference," Busuttil said today, saying commissioner Peter Paul Zammit had taken a decision not to issue charges on his own assessment of the case shortly after being appointed to the position by the new Labour government.

"It is the Attorney General who now has to clarify his position on the matter," Busuttil said.

Peter Paul Zammit has gone on record stating that no charges will be issued against John Dalli, according to his reassessment of the investigation that police carried out.He had also stated that he had already consulted with Peter Grech, and that he had agreed with his assessment.

In a statement at 7:46pm, Peter Paul Zammit declared that the police "did not have enough proof to arraign Mr John Dalli in court, to find him guilty without doubt - which is the degree of proof required at law and our courts. This case is still being investigate and at this stage, any statement would prejudice the case. The Commissioner is not ready to enter into any political controversy that could prejudice ulterior investigations on this case."

The defence lawyers of Silvio Zammit, who is charged with soliciting a €60 million bribe to reverse a ban on smokeless tobacco through his friendship with Dalli, want the Commissioner of Police to verbalise his position in court in a bid to drop the bribery charge. They say that unless the author of the alleged bribery is charged, Zammit cannot be accused of having committed the act.

But today Simon Busuttil said that Zammit's position was at loggerheads with Rizzo's stance to issue charges against Dalli.

"We're no longer in a democracy where justice is being done with everyone. The course of justice is being manipulated by government and its allies, including the Commissioner of Police.

"His position is no longer tenable. He took this decision on the Dalli case, against the advice of Rizzo and the Attorney General. And Joseph Muscat must take responsibility for this decision," Busuttil said.

Rizzo yesterday told the court that it was his "subjective evaluation" of the evidence he had at hand, that resulted in his opinion that Dalli should be charged.

"Zammit should have left things as they were," Busuttil said when asked whether Peter Paul Zammit had availed himself of the same subjectivity in coming down to his own conclusion.

"Under oath, Rizzo said there was never any political interference. I have full trust in Rizzo."

Dalli, a former Nationalist minister, is presently a government advisor on healthcare reform. He served as EU health commissioner until he was forced to resign on 16 October 2012 by European Commission president José Barroso over an investigative report by EU anti-fraud office OLAF claiming he was aware of Zammit's bribe offer. But the OLAF investigation rested on circumstantial evidence that pointed at telephone calls made between Silvio Zammit and John Dalli.