Police Commissioner reveals there is no case against John Dalli

The Police Commissioner, Peter Paul Zammit, has told MaltaToday that there is no criminal evidence to arraign or accuse former health commissioner John Dalli. Zammit said that the police investigations in relation to the OLAF report were ongoing, but as things stand today there is no evidence to incriminate John Dalli.

Dalli, a former PN leadership contender and longstanding finance minister, served as EU health commissioner until he was forced to resign. He has always insisted that he was a victim of the tobacco lobby and the various political interests in Brussels and Malta.

Dalli has maintained that he never knew of any bribe or masterminded any bribe and that he never had any intention of watering down the tobacco directive. He has since returned fire at Jose Barroso, president of the European Commission, and at Catherine Day, EC secretary, accusing them of stalling the tobacco directive, which has yet to come into force.

John Dalli reacts

"The statement issued by the Police Commissioner is a closure of a malevolent and defamatory case in my regard, which has damaged Malta's image worldwide.

After months of anguish caused mainly by politically motivated leaks in the press just before and during the election campaign, I can now concentrate on fully restoring my integrity as well as Malta's name at an international level, which is of the utmost importance.

I will proceed with the cases that I had already instituted last December in the Belgian Criminal Court, a case for defamation against Swedish Match for maliciously spreading fabricated information, and another in the European Court of Justice in Luxembourg for the annulment of President Barroso's decision to terminate my term as European Commissioner. President Barroso based his decision on the OLAF report which is now being heavily criticised for breaching both human rights and normal rules of investigation and procedure. This report has also been heavily criticised by the Supervisory Committee set up to scrutinise OLAF's procedures.

I am also presently considering other procedures that I may present in the Maltese Courts and in foreign courts.

My family and I can now recover from this ordeal and start rebuilding our life. We thank all those, in Malta and abroad, who have shown solidarity with us, especially those who actively gave us much needed support."