I totally agree with you.

This plan was thwarted by Inspector Taliana.

The official remedy to the debacle seems to me to be nothing less than a second attempted frame-up.

Something is rotten in the state of Denmark.

As in Mintoff’s 80s, respectable persons lose their balls. it’s a Eunuch’s Paradise again.

We are back to frame ups.

He’s not crossong his arms. He’s fondling his man boobs.

“It said that the case would be taken to the Permanent Disciplinary Board within the Home Affairs Ministry as the shortcoming was considered a grievous one which could lead to the dismissal of an officer from the force.” (The Times)

Arresting and charging the wrong man is much more grievous.

Daryl Luke Borg was charged on the ‘soild’ grounds of a telephone call by an informer and because he had a drug habit and had committed previous thefts. Some solid evidence.

Then Minister Mallia has the effrontery to tell us:

“Noting that errors do happen and in his long legal career he had come across similar cases, mallia said: “As a minister, I want to make sure that before anyone is in court, reasonable suspicions must be in place.”
(MaltaToday)

Slight correction: Mr. Chetcuti’s single sentence covering letter was in Maltese. All the more reason why he should have got it right.

http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20130831/local/police-board-recommends-steps-should-be-taken-against-inspector.484253

1. Why does the cover note signed by Keith Chetcuti -Secretary of the Police Board and business partner of Zero88 Do You Know Who I Am Chief of Staff of the Minister – state that the enquiry was requested by the Prime Minister in the capacity of Minister of Home Affairs and National Security? Surely this is an inability of Mr. Chetcuti to write a properly structured sentence in English. I imagine that the report is being provided to the Minister, in his capacity as Minister of Home Affairs and National Security, as per enquiry requested by the Prime Minister. Or has Minister Mallia now been divested also of the Home Affairs and National Security portfolios, after he was relieved of Justice?

If the Secretary of the Police Board cannot get a one-sentenced covering letter written in proper English, what hope do we have for the rest of the report?

2. Why did the Board claim that the media focus was on the detention as opposed to the wrongful arrest and accusation of Mr. Borg? And therefore why did the report not focus on that issue?

I believe that the media repeatedly referred to this case as “the wrongly accused man” or “wrongly arrested man,” and therefore I think that conveys clearly the message about where the media saw an issue.

Which means, in my view, that the report should have looked at the process of investigation of the case, the compilation of evidence by the police, the decision to arraign and the presentation of evidence in court.

The report says that Inspector Taliana received a tip-off about Mr. Grech on 8 August at 7.00pm. By that time, Mr. Borg had already been under arrest since 7 August. Therefore, the police and the justice system had already been in the wrong for almost 2 days and this is none of Mr. Taliana’s fault. Indeed, Mr. Taliana had received instructions to stop his investigations before 7 August, when the CID had decided that Mr. Borg would be arraigned.

In my opinion, this report is a coverup of the investigations of the CID and an unfair attempt to put the blame on Mr. Taliana.
Let us not kid ourselves. We are talking about investigations carried out by the CID which led to the wrongly accused man. If CID cannot get the right man in such a small incident, how can they get the big sharks in the major cases? This is the point which the Police Board should have addressed, and not why Mr. Taliana may have failed in a communications process.

There is good reason why Mr. Taliana should be the scape-goat for the cock-ups of the CID. Had he not acted on the tip-off he received and had Mr. Grech arrested, this blunder would never have come to light. Incidentally, Mr. Borg would still be under arrest.