Minister says comments on ‘hard-working’ disgraced police official no justification of domestic violence

Home Affairs Minister Michael Farrugia has apologised over comments he made that appeared to justify a senior police official’s domestic violence.

Assistant Police Commissioner Mario Tonna resigned his post on Tuesday following a report of domestic violence filed by his partner. The PN organ in-Nazzjon had reported that Tonna’s partner had filed a police report after multiple incidents of domestic violence, including being “head-butted in the nose” by Tonna.

The report also stated that Tonna was battling alcohol addiction, with police sources claiming that he was often under the influence.

Tonna was responsible for coordinating traffic in the country, as well as being responsible for the police garage and mechanical transport section. In 2011, Tonna had been found guilty of intimidating and harassing one of his superiors.

But the home affairs ministry described Tonna as a “hard-working officer who worked long hours” and specified that the allegations against Tonna had been withdrawn. The ministry was quick to jump to his defence saying that “he had never been reported for working or driving under the influence of alcohol.”

It said Tonna was a “hard-working officer who worked his way up through the ranks and worked long hours for the benefit of the police corps and the public”.

In  a statement, Farrugia said he condemned all forms of domestic violence and apologised for the comments he made, which could have suggested an apology for the violence.

Farrugia defended his track record as former social policy minister who moved a Bill to ratify the Istanbul Convention against domestic violence, and other reforms to assist families and victims of domestic violence.

He also said that in the past weeks he had strengthened the police corps’ section to deal with domestic violence, a unit set up a few months ago. “All this flies in the face of the PN’s political spin on my comments,” Farrugia said.