My first question to Michael Cassar: are you going to carry on where you left off and arraign John Dalli?
Published:
December 8, 2014 at 11:16pm
Michael Cassar was one of the senior police officers who testified before the House Privileges Committee and said that John Dalli should have been charged and arraigned along with Silvio Zammit.
A few days after John Dalli finally recovered from his psycho-social illness sufficiently to fly back to Malta, Police Commissioner John Rizzo was moved to the Civil Protection Department, Angelo Gafa was moved along and Michael Cassar accepted the top job at the Secret Service.
No excuse for not arresting and arraigning the one in the middle now. I wonder whether Muscat rang him before he got on the flight back home from Lourdes forsi jibqa hemm b’xi certifikat iehor.
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They’re part of the same old clique.
For more than one reason, rest assured that the answer to your question is in the negative. We all know what all those reasons are in this meritocratic, democratic, demonic country.
What if Dalli suffers a reverse-miracle and has a relapse in Lourdes?
Isn’t John Dalli in Lourdes right now?
How very convenient. I am expecting him to undergo a reverse-miracle, in which he got there healthy and will now fall ill again with that psycho social virus.
How far is Lourdes from that Tabor Psychiatrist’s clinic?
It seems that this is the perfect way to usher in Silvio Scerri as the new Police CEO.
You know “because he understands the medium” – having supervised them as a former Chief of Staff to the former Minister (assuming Manuel Mallia is off by tomorrow).
Also whoever said that staff in a certain ministry were seen moving boxes might have had a premonition of things to come.
A lot of things seem to be materialising rather quickly but rather well-planned; all the protagonists are going through their paces as if in a set-piece scenario.
And now who will be anointed new Minister? Jose? Owen? Lucky Luciano?
Perhaps John Dalli foresaw this and went to Lourdes to implore mercy from above.
We wish him luck but proof of the pudding is in the eating. Let’s see how strong he against political interference.
Don’t hold your breath, Daphne
How many more Police Commissioners will it take for Dalli to face what he should have faced, three Commissioners ago?
What do you think takes a nice two hours waiting time? Hope it’s not the time required to convince someone you’ve just promoted to let sleeping dogs lie.
See if he returns first.
I would like to ask Silvio Scerri if it is OK to lie to a board of inquiry?
See pg. 4, last paragraph of the board report. He denied seeing the report when he had in fact even made additions to it, MOST DAMNING of which was the addition of the lie ‘in the air’.
I guess it is just fine, because the PM seems to have no problem with Silvio Scerri lying. And the PM is a proper moral compass is he not?
http://3c3dbeaf6f6c49f4b9f4-a655c0f6dcd98e765a68760c407565ae.r86.cf3.rackcdn.com/d0f8db0054a55f7d3b48db61089442753b49b663.pdf
So Silvio Scerri added a lie to be published by the Department of Information and then lied to the board of inquiry saying he did not see the report but he is allowed to continue to get privileges out of government appointments?
How can a prime minister be so dishonest? Is this what he meant when he said ‘without fear or favour’?
There seems to be much fear and favour here.
Silvio Scerri without Mallia is toast just the same.
It’s the Tal-Fardal thingy. They are all buddies and they don’t f*&k each although they do have a hierarchical structure with the highest one obviously having the most power. I wonder who runs that show, who is at top of the triangle.
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 when summoned in front of the House Privileges Committee very recently.
Tih ċans jirfes l-għatba tal-kwartieri ġenerali tal-pulizija!
Can someone please tell me who Steve Smith is?
What he does for a living?
And does he like Eurovision or boxing?
What difference does it make whether he resigns or not. His laid all his foundations.
Franco Debono is going to lose a shed-load of clients though.
Dalli is already small fry. Muscat no longer needs him. Muscat no longer cares.
Dalli can only hope his trip to Lourdes will count for something, or he has to ferret out that certificate from the bottom of his bureau to stay out of the country some more.
How’s the Bahamas this time of year?
It depends if Dalli has anything on Muscat.
Small fry
Tghid ha jibqa’ Lourdes u jghid li ma jiflahx isiefer? Id-dnub ma jorqodx.
Earlier on during the day I had postulated that the Dalli clan took the trip to Lourdes as a precaution in case what actually happened now would occur, namely the appointing of a new Police Commissioner who would find the conscience to proceed with John Dalli’s indictment.
John Dalli is now in a foreign country, away from the risk of indictment, and maybe in possession of a medical certificate that he cannot travel due to sickness (reason for the Lourdes trip; hypocrite, abusing of my Church).
Now it all depends on what grounds the new Commissioner of Police has accepted the responsibility.
The saga continues.
You never know. He might have hypothermia, the holy water is freezing this time of the year
“Conscience” does not come into the equation at all.
It is a question of “He who pays the piper calls the tune”.
We only know who should be paying the piper but it is not at all clear who is actually paying the piper using the taxpayers’ money.
The fact that Ray Zammit was made acting Commissioner means Cassar was lined up all along. Why he never accepted before was probably down to who his boss would have been.
What would a potential serious foreign investor considering Malta as a place where to invest his hard earned millions do when, after he caries out a due diligence exercise about us, about our prime minister and the minister for the police, about our government, police, courts of justice and economy besides other areas, as these have been transmogrified by Muscat?
In the private sector if a senior member of management fails the trust test he would be out of a job in no time.
In Joseph’s world, if you fail the test of trust you’re moved back to Deputy Police Commissioner.
Now why did we think that the post of Deputy Police Commissioner is a senior position or is a position of trust? What does that say of the trust rating of the rest of the rank and file of the police force?
The thing is, he also said:
“I believed that if we had arraigned John Dalli individually we would not have had a final conviction. There was only circumstantial evidence against Mr Dalli. It would have been a different story had the two men been arraigned together.”
So in a way these comments could be his passport to this promotion.
http://www.independent.com.mt/articles/2014-10-15/local-news/PN-says-OLAF-chief-Kessler-should-be-questioned-in-Malta-government-says-it-is-useless-to-insist-6736123767
And whilst on the subject of what Michael Cassar should be investigating, how about those €500,000 in cash?
If they are not from sale of property, where did they come from?
If they came from his clients, where did they get it from? Did they issue VAT receipts? Did he? Shouldn’t he at least be questioned about money laundering?
Did HE issue VAT receipts for this money? Shouldn’t former (expelled) policeman Ivan Portelli, now Director of Operations at the VAT department be asking some questions as well?
One of the reasons that the press briefing was delayed by two hours was mainly this. Joseph Muscat was telling Michael Cassar who were the untouchables, if he was going to get the post of police commissioner. Top of the list would have been John Dalli.
“…are you (newly appointed independent Commissioner of Police M. Cassar) going to carry on where you left off and arraign John Dalli?”
Suggested reply:
Yes, weather, the Minister i/c the police and the honourable Prime Minister, permitting.
Incidentally the report HAS served one purpose. Page 11, paragraph three, is official certification that ‘Taghna Lkoll’ never was or is dead. We knew that, but it’s nice to have official confirmation.
Ms. Daphne, I have my doubts if you will have the guts and decency to publish this, so as your ‘half million readers’ will know the whole truth, but anyway, here goes …
In an interview on “Malta Today”s site, CoP Cassar, immediately after being sworn in, his direct answer when asked by Tim Diacono regarding pending investigations, re John Dalli’s case was this:
“… ta’ John Dalli kien LEST, jekk ma jkunx hemm affarijiet godda, dejjem.” (MT 09/12 video (0.55″)
Now, in case you might not get the exact meaning of the word “Lest” in Maltese, according to “It-Tezawru” by Albert W. Agius : “Lest = mitmum, komplut” ! i.e. for Cassar the case is closed as far as regards Dalli. But this is not all.
CoP Cassar is consistent with what he sustained in the past about Dalli.
During his evidence in Parliament’s Privileges Committee on the 15th October 2014 Cassar revealed that he was absent when the meeting to decide on the case was convened, right after John Rizzo and his team returned from meeting Kessler in Brussels, where a witness (Johan Gabrielsson) was advised to continue to spread a lie not to disturb the investigation in Malta. But he went further.
After making it clear, that the then CoP Rizzo had yet to interrogate one last time Dalli, Cassar concluded with this precise, unequivocal declaration, which allow me to quote in Maltese, so to avoid any possibility of misunderstanding:
“Fl-opinjoni tieghi, jekk is-Sur Dalli kellu jitressaq wahdu, bil-provi li kellna ma kienx ikollna final conviction (kontra Dalli), u jiena dejjem tghallimt li jekk int konvint li mhux se jkollok final conviction, m’ghandekx tressaq il-bniedem fil-Qorti in the first place
In English this would read:
“In my opinion, had Mr Dalli been arraigned on his own, (as is the inevitable situation today). We would not have had a final convictioin (against Dalli), and I had been taught that if you are convinced that you will not have a final conviction, you should not arraign a person in Court in the first place. “
Can he be more clear than that? Yes. Read Cassar final words:
“…fil-konfront tas-Sur Dalli kien hemm biss circumstantial evidence, ma kien hemm xejn fattibbli, u b’li kien hemm, fl-opinjoni tieghi, qatt kien se ikollok a final conviction … mhux difficli, kien impossibbli li jkollok conviction.”
In English:
“There was only circumstantial evidence against Dalli, there were no facts; with what we had, in my opinion, we would never have had a final conviction … it was not just difficult, it was impossible to have a conviction.”
U conviction tfisser kundanna. So keep hoping Daphne!
One can verify all this through the Maltese Parliament archived video of the final minutes of that Committee’s sitting.
This means that then CoP Rizzo was intent to put Dalli through a judicial process knowing that it would be IMPOSSIBLE for him to have a conviction. Would not this have been gross abuse of power? I ask:
Or was THIS the reason Rizzo did not arraign Dalli when he still had time time to do this before being removed from CoP! So as to not give Dalli the chance to prove his innocence in Court
Was this the result of the political pressure from “Parliament” which Rizzo complained about?
Is this the result of the political pressure from Castille that the ‘Malta Today’ reported on the 16th December 2012?
But who thought he was to gain by the arraignment of Dalli? – Would it not have been comfortable for Barroso to get comfort for his decision to terminate Dalli (an action that is currently being scrutinised by the European Court of Justice), if it was was supported by the action of the Police in Malta?
Who would have connived on this strategy with Barroso? – Could it have been Gonzi et al in the meeting in Malta of the 5th October 2012, as Dalli sustains?
Why are you and the ‘Gonzi clique’ so blatantly obsessed to have Dalli arraigned? – Is it therefore just vindictiveness and hate, whilst trying to shift your blame, for our party’s shameful defeat at the election, on him?
Maybe you will set your army of spies to answer these questions. Or maybe not!
[Dpahne – People with your mindset are so tiring. If you want to defend a lying rogue and avaricious cheat, so right ahead. Your pigeon, not mine.]
Mindset?! Look who’s talking, after dedicating over 800 personal posts to John Dalli! But as you said: Your pigeon, not mine …but thanks just the same Daphne for including mine with them, and finally letting your readers knowing the FACTS. Appreciate.