Wrap-up: Arrest warrant issued against AD leader, Police commissioner investigates

The Commissioner of Police said this evening he had ordered an immediate investigation into allegations made by Alternattiva Demokratika leader Harry Vassallo this afternoon after he was served with two arrest warrants.

In a press conference Dr Vassallo said a court had ordered his imprisonment in a case which stemmed from the failure of a company he represented 10 years ago to submit VAT returns after he left. He blamed the Nationalist Party for the timing of this case, saying the court issued the warrants five months ago but he only learnt about them today from a Net TV journalist hours before he was informed by the police. He accused the PN of being behind a shameful campaign against AD.

The Nationalist Party in a counter statement said it was not so stupid as to raise such a case or involve itself in it.

Explaining the case, Dr Vassallo said he had originally been fined Lm6,000 because a company he last represented 10 years ago failed to submit its returns after he left it. While he was involved in the running of this company, all returns were submitted on time and all taxes were paid.

But, Dr Vassallo said, since he continued to be shown as being the person responsible to submit the returns, legal action had been taken against him and he was fined.

Dr Vassallo said he had appeared in court several times to explain that he could not present the company’s returns since he had nothing to do with the company any more. However, in terms of the law, it appeared that the court had had no choice but to fine him..

He had therefore submitted a request for a presidential pardon. The request was denied, and he had submitted an application for reconsideration of the case.

Dr Vassallo said that after a midday press conference today, a Net TV journalist asked him whether he knew that the fine had been converted into a prison term. At that time, Dr Vassallo said., he had not known anything, but at 4.15 p.m. two police officers turned up at his office and served him with documents dated October 10, 2007 informing him that the fine had been converted into a two year prison term.

Dr Vassallo said that ever since he became AD leader he had had no time to practice his profession, let alone be involved in business activities, and his income was Lm400 as a party employee. He could not, therefore, pay the fine.

He did not think it reasonable to be fined thousands of liri because empty returns had not been submitted, this when he did not have any tax payment due.

Dr Vassallo said he had waged his battle in private because of his personal interest, but now that the PN had chosen to make it public, he could promise to wage a campaign for law enforcement to be reasonable. People who failed to submit a piece of paper could not be treated like violent criminals.

As for the prison order, Dr Vassallo said he had again appealed for a reconsideration by the President as he had committed no crime and the failure to submit the VAT return was not his own.

The Nationalist Party in a reaction said it was not so stupid as to create an issue such as this.

It insisted that it never ever involved itself in the process which Dr Vassallo had been undergoing and it was therefore strongly denying the claims that Dr Vassallo had made against it.

The PN added, however, that Dr Vassallo should recognise that he was a public figure and the head of a political party, and therefore open to public scrutiny.

Dr Vassallo had been accused, and been found guilty of not paying a Lm6,000 fine, and despite the court sentence, he had still not paid the fine. Transparency was expected of every party leader, and therefore Dr Vassallo should himself have declared his position after the court judgment, the PN said.

It was unacceptable that Dr Vassallo was now trying to turn his case against the PN and trying to gain advantage from a mistake he himself had made, the PN said.

The statement was signed by PN general secretary Joe Saliba.

The Commissioner of Police said this evening he had ordered an immediate investigation into the allegations made by Dr Vassallo.

The Commissioner referred to a press conference given by Dr Vassallo about the arrest warrants, which the Commissioner said, were issued by the Courts on September 27, 2007, over fines which were converted into a prison term.

The Commissioner explained that it was normal practice for such warrants – and there were many every year – to be sent to the districts where they were then served by the police. According to preliminary investigations it appeared that a police sergeant today at about 4 p.m. told Dr Vassallo to regularise his position with regard to the warrants, the Commissioner said.

Dr Vassallo’s allegations were “totally different” to what was being reported by the sergeant, the Commissioner said. Therefore an immediate investigation had been launched to establish the truth in this case.

Meanwhile, Alternattiva Demokratika in a reaction to Mr Saliba's statement accused the PN of having lost all sense of decency and sense of the truth when trying to convince people that it had nothing to do with today's events.

"Once again the Nationalist Party has used the last day of the electoral campaign to try to discredit AD with mud slinging tactics. The facts of today's events speak for themselves and need no further comment. These are the same tactics the PN used in the 2003 General Elections and in the 2004 European Parliament Elections," said Stephen Cachia, AD deputy chairman.

"Joe Saliba and Media Link have absolutely no credibility in this regard and it is clear that the manner in which this case was orchestrated by the PN media, unfortunately with the complicity of the Police, clearly shows that the PN is in a state of panic and has exceeded all limits of arrogance."

The Office of the Prime Minister said tonight that as soon as it became aware of the statement by Dr Vassallo, the head of secretariat, Edgar Galea Curmi, got in touch with the Commissioner of Police and asked him to investigate the train of events which could have led to the strange way how the police acted in this case.The commissioner was also asked to investigate whether there had been similar cases.