Police says law does not allow them to reveal if Neville Gafa is being investigated

The Police Force has said that it cannot, by law, divulge details on whether former OPM official Neville Gafa is being investigated or not.

The Police were asked to investigate Gafa by Magistrate Victor Axiak last May, as the court ruled against the former OPM official in a libel case which he had filed against then Malta Independent on Sunday editor David Lindsay.

Asked whether Gafa is being investigated, a spokesperson for the police told The Malta Independent on Sunday that the force is precluded by law from revealing any details.

“Kindly note that in view of Article 87 of the Police Act, this restricts the Police from divulging details of ongoing investigations,” the spokesperson said.

Article 87 states that “no police officer shall give any details to the press or the broadcasting media regarding the identity of any person arrested on a reasonable suspicion that he committed an offence”.

It continues saying that “the Police shall not issue to the press, either directly or indirectly, any information about the identity of the person who is about to be charged before the courts or of any investigation”.

The libel case which Gafa lost was over two articles, titled: “Government official was netting up to €150,000 a month in medical visa scam” and “Receipts show €35,000 in payments made to Neville Gafa’ by Libyan middleman”. They were printed in The Malta Independent on Sunday in August 2016.

In his judgement, Magistrate Axiak said that both articles were based on truth and that the newspaper had provided evidence which proved as such, meaning that Gafa’s request for damages was denied in both cases.

Magistrate Axiak however also recommended that the Police investigate allegations made by witnesses produced in this case regarding attempts by Gafa, after the opening of the present case, to buy their silence.

The court remarked in its judgement that “this judgement does not mean that there is enough evidence from a criminal law aspect for the applicant to be involved in acts of bribery. That is solely a question of a criminal nature that does not fall under the competence of this court, and so that is why it can and should be investigated in the competent forum. It is also a fundamental principle in the law that, until there would be the final outcome of such criminal proceedings, the applicant remains presumed innocent”.

The judgement was handed down on 2 May this year, with Gafa not appealing the court’s decision.