Updated | Police report government Whip for ‘obstruction of justice’

Updated with statement by Malta Basketball Association.

Two traffic policemen have lodged a report against government Whip David Agius and other individuals from the Malta Basketball Association, for what the officers described as an obstruction of justice.

The incident occurred last Sunday, when two police officers stopped to question the parker employed at the parking area of the Ta' Qali basketball pavilion, who was suspected of operating in the area illegally. The officers then proceeded to confiscate the parker's ID card.

As the police officers engaged with the man, members of the MBA - including David Agius, who is the president of Siggiewi Basketball Club - approached the parker to see what the commotion was about.

According to the report filed by the police, Agius told the officers that the parking area was private and that they had no right to be there. Agius reportedly proceeded to take back the confiscated ID card from the police officer's hands and handed it back to the parker.

Seeing this, the police officers drove to the Rabat police station, where they filed their report.

In comments to MaltaToday, Agius denied any wrongdoing and insisted that it was not true that he snatched the ID card out of the police officer's hand.

The Nationalist MP denied "being an obstruction to justice", insisting that the secretary of the MBA had only asked him to clarify things with the officers. He added that the MBA secretary had asked him to confirm with the police that it was a private parking area that belonged to the association.

"I was called by the association's secretary to confirm with the police that Parliament had approved a resolution in which it had devoluted the land to the basketball association. The parking area is now private land," Agius said.

Asked if he had seized the ID card from the police's hand, Agius said: "What ID card? No, I didn't do anything of the sort."

Questions sent to Home Affairs Minister Carm Mifsud Bonnici and PN secretary-general Paul Borg Olivier regarding the incident remain unanswered.

In a press statement, the MBA said that the area in the vicinity of the Basketball Pavilion in Ta Qali was transferred to the MBA from the sports council (KMS) back in September 2011.

"This also includes the zone which was being used as a parking area on the day of the reported incident, and which was marked as such.

"On Saturday 7 April in which the reported incident took place, an MBA official invited the police officers present on site to view said contract at the offices of the MBA, a few metres away. The police officers which were on site refused to view the contract," secretary-general Joseph Muscat said.

The MBA extended an invitation to MaltaToday's journalists to next Sunday's final of the men's seniors basketball league and the semi-finals of the women's league. "You will also

History of faux pas

This is not the first time that the former deejay and Radio 101 journalist has landed himself in hot water. David Agius has a history of academic plagiarism which will probably haunt him throughout his entire political career, while having also betrayed a short temper during basketball games.

Agius was revealed to have been caught copying three times during his final year exams at the University of Malta. He was then caught copying again while sitting for an exam for his Master of Business Administration at the University of Malta in 2004 - when he was already a Nationalist MP.

Last year, a disciplinary board had found him guilty of passing "abusive and offensive" remarks at referees during a basketball match.

This had landed him a one-month suspension from all activities organised by the Malta Basketball Association.