Were Zammit and Manuel Mallia brought down by Mallia’s own Secret Service?
Manuel Cuschieri is going mad on Facebook demanding that the police root out whoever leaked those Control Room recordings. But it had occurred to me from the outset that it couldn’t have been a police underling or mere conscientious whistleblower.
You can’t just get at those recordings, copy them, and leak them. And whoever did it had all the time in the world to go through the mass of recorded telephone calls taken that night – 112 receives hundreds every day – and pick out the ones to and from Paul Sheehan. They are well recorded, too.
There is no way on earth it could have been an underling. Those recordings were copied at leisure and in comfort. And they were released for a purpose. I reach that conclusion because there is way too much at stake for a mere underling working as a whistleblower. Compare and contrast with what happened to Sergeant Lee Roy Balzan, who was arrested, charged and held on remand because of suspicions that it was his password that was used to delete part of an arrest report which was then recovered.
No. This would have to be a senior person with a lot to gain and no way of being caught, because of the nature of his work.
I wondered earlier today (to myself) whether it was the prime minister who had them released to bring down Mallia. Then I thought, no, there is way too much collateral damage for Muscat and anyway, he would have released them to Malta Today and Times of Malta, not to the PN media.
Think, think, think….I’ve been thinking all day about this. And now all has suddenly become crystal clear with tonight’s announcements.
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Totally unbelievable. Just unbelievable and inconceivable.
There are also embassies which have an interest in tapping phone calls.
I see two – the new police commissioner who had been skipped over before this happened, or somebody close to Jose Herrera, given that Jose Herrera wants Manuel Mallia’s job.
Who ? Jose ?
Il-Prim ghandu ghandu xi dejn kbir mal-ministru Mallia. Min hu l-Prim Ministru ta’ dan il-pajjiz qed nistaqqsi wara din il-froga ta’ llejla?
Together with Kasco Keith?
Unbelievable! Joseph Muscat manage to prove that he is even worse than Alfred Sant. Can you imagine?
PM TAZ-ZIKK.
Tonight’s developments proved to me, if ever I needed proof, that Joseph Muscat and his acolyte Kurt Farrugia, as well as his cronies at the Office of the Prime Minister are NOT government material.
They have no idea about the work and responsibility.
Or the incumbent Jose Herrera. Your enemies are usually standing behind you in your own party.
How it all feels…https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pSaWuLiV4mw
Revenge is a dish best served cold.
Newsfeed is saying that the Prime Minister’s beef with Mallia is that he did not check the Department of Information statement.
If we take this at face value it seems as if Muscat is asking Mallia to decide whether to resign for something which was the responsibility of Muscat’s office.
‘Mhux jien’ culture at its worst.
If this was the best spin the government could come up with, then this was a serious incident indeed.
Joseph Muscat – “Jien l-iktar wiehed irrabjat u d-disgustat”.
Uri rispett lejn il-poplu Malti ghal-darba. Jien irrabjat u d-disgustat bik ghax lanqas ghandek il-guts tiehu decizjoni daqshekk importanti ghal Malta.
Shame on you.
Any to say that heads go rolling and carriers crashing initiated by the simple breaking of a mirror – HOWZAT for superstition
This was immediately obvious to me. They used the PN media. I would have waited for the inquiry, then released the recordings.
It would have been more damning. My theory: Joseph wanted the PN to appear to push matters to the brink, so that he would not appear to be Manuel’s executioner, but himself a victim of events.
[Daphne – Oh my God, that is exactly what I am NOT saying here. Use your mind: whoever made and leaked those copies of recordings was safe, had unmonitored access to the recorded calls, and wanted THE POLICE COMMISSIONER out of the way. This has NOTHING to do with politics. I am not going to spell it out, but exactly how much spoon-feeding do people need before they can see what is staring at us in the face right now.]
Majmuna: It’s so obvious. Hint: We have a new Commissioner of Police who until a few hours ago was head of the Secret Service.
So the prime minister has finally taken a bold decision and said, “Resign, if you wish, Manuel. But take your time about it.”
Don Manwel Mallia to Joseph Muscat:
“OK, siehbi. Nirrizenja Zikk.”
And then Muscat accuses others of sitting on the fence. Wimp.
The sun is still shining at Super One.
The country is on tenterhooks and Super One is featuring Arani Issa. No update from Castille. Not a peep.
The former head of Secret Service is now Police Commissioner. Bingo.
“Former Assistant Police Commissioner Michael Cassar allegedly colluded with disgraced former EU Commissioner John Dalli to frame Joseph Ellul-Grech”
http://ec-eu-john-dalli.blogspot.co.uk/p/michael-cassar-ass-police-commissioner.html
I thought there was something weird about there being such a fuss that he was out of the country.
Can you spell it out please? Or is it not safe? In that case let it be.
Fully agree with your suspicions. I had the same thoughts on reading the announcements
KF?
So we are getting closer to the totalitarian state our dear Prime Minister has longed for since his grandmother took him to those Mintoff meetings.
Mallia will undoubtedly stay and the police and secret service will remain under his power.
Mafia rules ok.
Malta you’re well and truly fecked as Mrs. Brown would say.
Oops sorry, in my haste to read every bit of fresh news I skipped the title.
But I was also thinking about how much Jose Herrera had wanted Mallia’s ministry and if he had his finger in this sticky pie.
We should ask George RR Martin
Are you saying that it was Michael Cassar?
[Daphne – No. I am saying that it was somebody who wanted Ray Zammit out of the way. It could have been anyone, but that person, whoever it is, would be secure.]
I don’t know Ray Zammit from Adam but he comes across as a sincere man even if not exactly the sharpest tool in the shed.
He might have tried to instil discipline to authority to some who wanted otherwise. So I think you’re right, he must have been an inconvenient for some within the senior cadre of the Police Corps.
Well that still won’t avoid the police going through the shake-up from hell. Joseph Muscat will give them a right royal bollocking and shake them up big time.
Nibdew minnek, Ciangura. Ha nibghatulek Garmin GPS Super Deluxe tat-toroq, il-bliet u l-irhula Maltin u jkollok titghallimhom bl-amment. Inkella nibghatuk ghassa Wied Ghammieq mal-werzieq u l-grieden.
[Daphne – I can’t imagine where you got the idea that Ray Zammit is a sincere man who tried to instil discipline. And even if you had that impression of him, surely you must have shed it after listening to those disgraceful telephone calls. Discipline? A Police Commissioner who says ‘siehbi’ to a very junior subordinate, and who, on being told that this subordinate has been out shooting at things and people, says, ‘U ijja, orrajt, orrajt”? Come on.]
Daphne,
I think John Dalli will have the same travel sickness bout he had in Brussels.
Will he remain in Lourdes?
If I’m not mistaken Michael Cassar was going to proceed against Dalli on the Snus corruption case. He was transferred to be the head of the secret service.
Good night!
Exactly my thoughts. Michael Cassar was in agreement with all the members of the investigative team to prosecute John Dalli.
I now sincerely hope that as the Commissioner of Police himself, he will revive Dalli’s case and proceed as he said publicly he wanted to do.
Et tu, Brute!
Dear Daphne,
May I nominate you to fill any top vacant seat in the Maltese secret service? But remember, if you are later asked to fill the post of a Police Commissioner in Labour Party days never, but NEVER accept an acting appointment and stick it out for the minimum period necessary to qualify for a Commissioner of Police pension.
[Daphne – OK, siehbi.]
If Manuel Cuschieri really wants to get to the bottom of this, all he has to do is go to the top. But then perhaps Manuel is not so familiar with police internal conspiracies.
Will we ever know the source of the Malliagate Tapes?
Yes, l-ahwa, we will.
For the Cuschieri Inquiry is under way and the battle ahead is foreseen, foretold and foregone.
Manwel Cuschieri was suspected to be the writer of that infamous letter against the late Lino Spiteri in the run-up to the MLP leadership race, where Alfred Sant won with the help of Pawlu Muscat who stuffed the ballot box with Alfred Sant votes.
The letter was signed M.C.
[Daphne – People don’t sign anonymous letters with their initials.]
lol, perfect comment
Isn’t it obvious?
Mallia vs Kurt Farrugia
A boss calls for one of his managers and presents him with a damning report about him and tells him that he wants him to resign. However, at the same time he also presents him with the report and asks him to read it and then to decide whether he wants to resign or not.
That’s a management system from the Monty Python school of management:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wRGnTWnGlZ8
The last part of the sketch is about unsuccessful salesmen. It’s highly relevant to the next general elections.
Does the Secret Service have a big brother?
This is the most relevant comment in my eyes, and to my knowledge.
That big brother was responsible for decisions this man took in the 80s that still cannot be ignored today.
He was head of immigration in the 80s.
Ray Zammit was not fired because of how he mishandled the aftermath of the shooting, but because he was responsible for the underling who is letting the cat out of the bag.
[Daphne – He wasn’t fired. He was demoted. He is now assistant commissioner, which is exactly what he was before he became acting commissioner.]
Another theory: Ray Zammit suspected he would get fired, so he said “majtazwel” and released the recordings himself.
I am sure that Mallia is man enough to resign. After all didn’t he promise to be loyal to Joseph before the election in one of his talks?