Updated | Inquiry to investigate political intervention in Gozo drug prosecution

Prime Minister Joseph Muscat had ordered an inquiry into revelations by MaltaToday that two young Gozitan men were given the opportunity to expunge a police statement in which they admitted they had been trafficking drugs after the intervention of two senior politicians.

In a statement, the Office of the Prime Minister said the government had taken note of the revelations and an inquiry would be set up to investigate the case.

The inquiry was ordered in the wake of a MaltaToday report which on Sunday revealed how in the summer of 2013, two young Gozitan men who had been detained by police on drug trafficking charges, had changed their police statement thanks to the timely intervention of two senior government politicians.

The two men had initially admitted to police that they were involved in the trafficking of drugs, but days later, two senior government politicians had a meeting with the fathers of the two men. MaltaToday is privy to specific details of the meeting.

After the meeting the two young men were given the opportunity to change their police statements – which they did – with the new statement completely contradicting their original declarations.

As a result of their revised statements, the Gozitan police did not proceed with prosecuting the two men.

The meeting was held at a government building in Victoria, Gozo. Eyewitnesses said the fathers of the two young men entered the building from a side door to avoid being noted.

In a reaction, the Nationalist Party called on Prime Minister Joseph Muscat to ensure the inquiry should be led by independent people, and “not by people very close to the corrupt clique in Castille, like former Labour deputy leader Philip Sciberras.”

The PN said the inquiry should be conducted in line with the Inquiries Act and “must ensure that that the entire truth is revealed, including politicians' involvement, and not to protect those close to Muscat.”

Earlier, PN leader Simon Busuttil said the drug trafficking prosecution was symptomatic of the current state of the police force, and called on police commissioner Lawrence Cutajar and home affairs minister Carmelo Abela to resign “immediately”.

Updated on Monday 27 February after MaltaToday erroneously reported in its print edition that the arrest took place in 2014, as opposed to 2013