John Dalli takes Swedish Match tape to Belgian police

Former European commissioner John Dalli has testified before the Belgian judiciary police on new developments stemming from statements by Swedish Match officials that OLAF told them to stick to a misleading version of events on the Dalligate affair.

On 20 March, Dalli testified before Olivier Hastir of the Belgian police, in a statement that lasted three and a half hours. Dalli also deposited a tape recording of the conversation between Green MEP José Bové and two officials of Swedish Match, recorded the day before at Bové's office at the European Parliament in Brussels.

In a recording of a conversation that Swedish Match public affairs director Johann Gabrielsson held with  Bové earlier last week, the man who was asked for €60 million to reverse the EU ban on snus, said that Maltese lobbyist Gayle Kimberley had "lied" about a second meeting she had had with John Dalli in 2012.

Gabrielsson said that the EU's anti-fraud unit and the Maltese police 'suggested' him that he stick to a public version of events that had already been belied in investigations they carried out, into a €60 million bribe requested by a Maltese businessman allegedly to influence EU tobacco laws.

"We had been told by OLAF that an investigation was going on in Malta, 'so keep to your version. Say what you have told us, what your version is, because there is a Maltese criminal investigation that should not be disturbed'. And this was what the Maltese police said as well," Gabrielsson said.

It was this crucial meeting that formed the basis for the "unambiguous circumstantial evidence" OLAF said they had on the former EU commissioner for health and consumer affairs, who resigned on 16 October 2012 after being presented with a covering letter from EC president José Manuel Barroso claiming he had been aware of Zammit's attempts to solicit the bribe.

In a statement, the Malta Police Force said the allegations were "all blatant lies".

"The Commissioner of Police, as lead investigator, and the other members of the investigation team, vehemently deny all allegations contained in these articles.  It is to be made amply clear that no police officer involved in these investigations did inform anyone, including Swedish Match officials, not to say the truth about Gayle Kimberley or about any other person involved in this case," the police said.

"The Malta Police also categorically denies that it had any pressure exerted by, or any influence directed from, the Office of the Prime Minister or from any other person, as to how it should proceed and conduct the investigations concerning Mr John Dalli."