The Malta Independent on Sunday
Keith Schembri was questioned by magistrate; Police Chief Angelo Gafa insists that truth will emerge
Police Commissioner Angelo Gafa has denied the court testimony of one of his Assistant Commissioners, saying that the former Prime Minister’s chief of staff Keith Schembri has in fact been questioned by a magistrate in the presence of the police.
The former head of the Economic Crimes Unit Ian Abdilla shocked the public inquiry into Daphne Caruana Galizia’s assassination when he said that neither former government minister Konrad Mizzi nor Keith Schembri were questioned by police over scandals they were named in.
Speaking in an interview with The
Malta Independent on Sunday, Gafa said that “investigations are not only carried out by the police, but also through magisterial inquiries. I can tell you that Schembri was spoken to by the inquiring magistrate in the presence of the police.”
Gafa said that he could have called Schembri and Mizzi in when he first took over his post, and that he would have been congratulated for it. He stressed, however, that the aim is for there to be justice and that interrogations be conducted at the right time
“We have to reach the truth. Maybe the path to the truth will curve, but we will get to the truth”, he said.
The Malta Police Force has, in the past few years, faced criticism from many quarters. Perhaps in recognition of this, one of the first things which Prime Minister Robert Abela did when he took office was accept the resignation of thenPolice Commissioner Lawrence Cutajar, before embarking on a reform exercise in terms of how the Police chief is appointed. Fast forward some months, it has been just over six weeks since ANGELO GAFA was appointed as the new Police Commissioner. He sat down for an interview with Albert Galea, where he was asked about a raft of different topics related to the force.
“The Police Force is 206 years old, but the world has changed and the Force needs to adapt to those changes”, Gafa begins after being asked about the principles of his planned reforms.
He explained that next month, the police will be publishing a transformation strategy which will serve as the basis for the future of the Police Force.
“It is the way in which we are going to work; with clear plans, and with the public knowing how we are going to work – we want the public to keep us accountable, and we want to improve their faith in us.”
“Our work can only be effective if the public is a partner in our work – and they will trust us more if we communicate more effectively with them”, he explained.
Gafa said that some element of restructuring has already commenced – the number of deputy commissioners has been reduced from four to two, while a new role which will lead the administrative side of the force will also be created.
Furthermore, in line with GRECO recommendations, a new code of ethics, an anti-fraud and corruption policy, procedures in order to facilitate the reporting of internal abuse, and regulations on external activities such as part-time jobs have already been introduced.
At the same time, this plan looks at movements within the force – both vertically in terms of promotions and horizontally between units, Gafa explained. “In the past, certain decisions were taken which, however good they were, were not always transparent to everyone”, he said.
He said that there are a number of plans in place, and noted that certain projects have already begun. Gafa referred to the community policing project, which ran as a pilot-project in Mellieha and which will expand to 11 more localities in the near future.
“This is a new concept where the country will have an individualized service. People will have their own policeman. Not only will they know them, they will have their contact numbers and their email addresses to communicate with them. The aim is to be more preventative rather than reactive”, he said.
Incidentally, the expansion of the community policing project does not include St. Julian’s thus far – a point which drew criticism from the locality’s mayor Albert Buttigieg in the past week.
Asked about this, Gafa noted that before one starts running, they must first learn to walk.
“St Julian’s is a very particular place with particular challenges. Community policing cannot solve the issues of Paceville in particular. The issues there are in the evening, so the approach has to be different to community policing.”
“It’s not a magic package that can solve everything. This is an incremental project – so yes it will be spread to all localities, but incrementally”, he added.
‘However good or bad working conditions are, nobody has any excuse to become corrupt’
One of the arguments frequently made when it comes to public appointees in general, including the police, is that there should be a salary increase in order to stave off any temptation of corruption.
Asked about this, Gafa admitted that the police officers can have better working conditions, but at the same time said that he understood that they operate within a public service setting, where roles are pinned to public salary scales.
He referred to the sectoral agreement signed in 2018, describing it as a “historic” one which, besides including an increase in pay, also obtained for the police a 40-hour week compared to the 46-hour-week which they used to work while still being paid on the same government salary scale.
With that agreement, any work over and above 40 hours become payable through overtime.
Gafa noted that better working conditions also include things such as the working environment, and said that some police stations are getting a sorely needed refurbishment, while new stations are scheduled to open in Marsaxlokk and Marsascala in the near future.
The police are also getting new tools to work with, Gafa said before noting that the police fleet had been modernized, and that similar modernisations are planned for the Rapid Intervention Unit and the Special Intervention Unit in the near future. He said that all police officers will also be given body-cams to decrease “frivolous allegations” against them.
Gafa made one point clear however: “However good or bad the conditions are though – nobody has any excuse to fall for any temptation. In no way is it justified that a person subscribes to some form of corruption because the pay isn’t good. That will not be tolerated.”
Results on money laundering cases are coming along - Gafa
Turning to the Economic Crimes Unit and the upcoming Moneyval assessment, Gafa, when asked about the way forward within the former unit – which has been a topic of much controversy and which saw a change in leadership on the first day of Gafa’s new job, said that there is major pressure on the department both from abroad and from himself.
He said that it is now one of the biggest specialist units in the force following a 70% increase in its human resources, with plans for further increases in place.
The change of leadership in the unit – Ian Abdilla was replaced by Alexandra Mamo on Gafa’s first day in office – was made because of an understanding for a need for change, he said.
“Results have started coming in. Last week we began taking money laundering cases to court. We are prioritizing cases; there are some which may take long, but there are others where the final result can be reached quicker if we give them specific focus, which is why we have created task forces to do just this”, he said.
Asked about the upcoming Moneyval assessment and whether he felt that the police had satisfied the points set out for them in particular by Moneyval, Gafa said that the principal criticism had been about the lack of prosecutions for money laundering cases.
This is why, he said, there is an ongoing prioritization exercise when it comes to these cases.
“In the short term, Moneyval is the priority. My job however is not just to pass the Moneyval assessment – the work and restructuring being done is so that we can have an organized and
sustainable unit for the coming years, and not just until the Moneyval test”, he explained.
‘The path to the truth migh have some curves, but we will get to the truth’, Gafa says when asked about Mizzi, Schembri
In recent years, especially since the Panama Papers scandal erupted some four years ago, the police has borne significant criticism over a lack of action against politicians and their alleged wrongdoing.
Barely a month ago, the former head of the Economic Crimes Unit Ian Abdilla shocked the public inquiry into Daphne Caruana Galizia’s assassination when he said that neither former government minister Konrad Mizzi nor the former Prime Minister’s chief of staff Keith Schembri – both embroiled in numerous scandals in these past four years – were questioned by police over scandals they were named in.
Asked whether he thought that not questioning these individuals was a mistake, Gafa said that Abdilla was in actual fact incorrect.
“Investigations are not just those carried out by police, but they also include magisterial inquiries. I can tell you that Keith Schembri was spoken to by the inquiring magistrate in the presence of the police”, he said.
“Investigations are ongoing – the fact that certain people may not have been spoken to does not mean that they are not being investigated. When investigations are carried out, first we gather evidence, then we go for a final interrogation and then decide whether there is a case or not”, he added.
“In the first week I could have called them in and everyone would have told me ‘well done’ and applauded me – but we need to understand the aim; and the aim is that justice is done, that interrogations are conducted at the right time, so that justice is done and is seen to be done”, he said.
This newsroom pointed out the fact that the Panama Papers scandal, for instance, was now over four years ago. Gafa said that opening an offshore company in itself is not a criminal offence. The police, he said, investigate amongst other things, what could have been planned for those companies, and this requires cooperation with jurisdictions outside the EU – something which may be a bit less forthcoming than if it were with jurisdictions from within the EU.
“However, we have to reach the truth. Maybe the path to the truth will have some curves, but we will get to the truth”, he said.
Melvin Theuma’s security detail revised - Gafa
Just under a month ago, the prosecution’s key witness in the Daphne Caruana Galizia murder case – self-confessed middleman Melvin Theuma – attempted to commit suicide while under protection by the police.
Theuma has since been discharged from hospital, but questions remain over the level of protection he was being given by police at the time.
Asked whether this had changed now after this incident, Gafa said that his security detail has indeed been revised, but said that it would be imprudent to give further details on it given that this is a matter of security on a particular person.
He said that discussions are ongoing with the health authorities so that it can be ensured that Theuma will testify when he has to and that he testifies the whole truth, as per the terms of his presidential pardon.
When it was pointed out that Theuma had made references in his court testimony that he may have been depressed, and that his life had ended with that of Daphne Caruana Galizia, Gafa said that when Theuma said that he was not referring to his current state, but rather his past situation.
He reiterated that Theuma’s security detail had been revised, and that he looks forward for him to testify so that justice in this case can be done.
Audit into Police Force still ongoing
The police faced its own scandal at the beginning of this year, when over two-thirds of its traffic branch were caught allegedly committing various abuses related to things ranging from overtime to fuel misappropriation amongst others.
A number of officers have since been charged with fraud, to which they pleaded not guilty. The police meanwhile launched a full internal audit in response to the scandal.
Asked about this audit and what measures have been taken since in order to prevent such abuses, Gafa said that measures
– such as the centralization of a policeman’s daily detail – have already started to be introduced.
He said that the audit is being carried out by the public service’s Internal Audit and Investigations Directorate and not by the police itself, as he wanted to ensure that it was done in the most transparent manner possible.
He said that the audit is still ongoing and that he is looking forward to its outcome, so that they can then implement the necessary recommendations.
A matter of trust: Gafa speaks of need to get closer to the people
There is a phrase in English which goes “trust takes years to build, but seconds to break”. Given the scandals and criticisms that the force has faced, the police have lost the trust of a significant chunk of the Maltese population.
Asked how he seeks to rebuild this trust, Gafa said that a message was sent in this regard on the very first day of his tenure when he organised a press conference.
“I wanted to show that this is a force which will communicate with journalists and hence with the public. In the first six weeks of my tenure, we have already organised five press conferences – an enormous contrast to how we used to operate before”, he observed.
“We need to reach the people more. The results will come. The community policing project will help us get closer to the people as well – the impact of that project is clear, and we want to see the successes of the pilot project in Mellieha replicated in every locality across the country”, he said.
“One thing breeds another, and bit by bit I believe that we can rebuild that trust”, Gafa concluded.