Wednesday, 8th October 2008 - 21:11CET
Sant hits out at MITTS investigation
Former Labour leader Alfred Sant (file picture)
Former Labour leader Alfred Sant today accused the government of using police investigations into alleged hacking at MITTS as a screen so as not to give an account of what had really happened.
Speaking in Parliament, Dr Sant said that what was taking place was a parody of an investigation on matters which in a real democracy were of utmost importance. The investigation was being used so that the government would not be held to account. The same thing had been done in the Mistra case.
What was taking place in Malta was in stark contrast to what took place in Britain, where no facts were hidden by the government in a similar case.
Dr Sant said that he had expected MITTS to at least inform him whether anyone had unauthorised access to his e-mails over the past two years, but nothing had happened.
He recalled that last September, when he was still Opposition leader, he could not access his e-mails and he had informed the Clerk of the House of his problems. The Clerk contacted MITTS and he was asked to change his password for access to Internet and his e-mail account. But no explanation was given.
What was involved in this case, Dr Sant said, was not only his own fundamental rights, but also his work as an MP and then Opposition leader and also the rights and interests of those who had communicated with him through e-mail.
The ongoing police investigation probably meant that more people were seeing his e-mails.
It was scandalous that the government was seemingly ignoring this case and accusing others of coming up with “a pack of lies”.
Dr Sant said he had now written to the chairman of MITTS demanding an explanation, and he would take all other appropriate action to safeguard his rights.
It was a disgrace that a government which boasted of its European credentials was ignoring its obligations under the most important of European values, those on which good governance were based, Dr Sant said.
RSS
Comments
I am talking about Dr. Alfred Sant’s double standards and his own friends of friends. Do you know what action Dr. Sant took against his own friend of friend? Do you know the hardship that Dr. Sant’s administration caused to the career officer who was doing his duties as a result of the irresponsible behaviour of Dr. Sant’s friend of friend, not to mention all the locally engaged employees who tendered their resignation from the ambassador’s residence and the embassy because of the incompetence of Dr. Sant’s friend of friend?
I look forward to Dr. Sant taking this issue to the competent EU authorities! That implies that Dr. Sant believes in EU institutions when it suits him, while he deprived us of the EU benefits when he practised “good governance”?
If Dr. Sant does not want his e-mails to be hacked he should not use e-mail. Does he have anything to hide? If the most sensitive and secure departments in the world have been hacked, in one case by a 19 year-old, how can Dr. Sant expect these things not to happen in Malta. I am not condoning hacking, but it happens.
this is not just my impression bcoz various posters are of the same opinion. but maybe we're all wrong??
re the courts. we all remember the recent past when dr fenech adami publicly attacked certain court decisions which were not to his liking and threatened to change the system.
i will take your advice and wait until the mitts investigation by the police is over and then comment.
if this is going to be anything like the mistra investigation i think we all know already the outcome don't we?? resignations?? yeah in my dreams !
What are you talking about? What is a career officer or whatever to do with the serious, indeed outrageous issue under review? I repeat, I look forward to seeing Dr Sant take this issue of national import before the competent EU authorities. There is no chance of solving the problem locally given the highly undemocratic Administration we have.
Where was J. Martinelli when Labour goverment gave young couples land for free and Lm2000 to begin the construction?
Ok at that time they didn't have foreign choclate bars but they didn't have a life time loan as well!!!
If any MITTS employees committed what is being alleged, then they ought to suffer the consequences.
Dr. Alfred should not blow this serious matter out of proportion, as if it were an issue of national security. Were European credentials not supposed to remain frozen had he remained in office? Does he know that e-mails in the U.S. may be hacked too, including those of the Pentagon! The Secretary of Defense did not resign, and as far as I know, the Director of the FBI did not resign when the FBI computers were hacked.
http://rawstory.com/news/2007/Pentagon_confirms_email_system_hacked_0621.html
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2006/07/06/national/main1779905.shtml
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2002/11/13/brit_charged_with_hacking_pentagon/
http://news.cnet.com/DOJ-charges-teen-with-Pentagon-hacking/2100-1023_3-230527.html
I have nothing against Dr. Sant the man, but Dr. Sant the politician whose negativity is known to (at least) half the nation, is another matter.
History speaks for itself and requires no further input from me.
In fact, I do not blame Dr. Sant from behaving the way he does since he was brought up since his early years in an atmosphere of protest - anti-everything. Look at a classical example underneath in reference to the violence in the late 50s and early 60s.
Ms. Gauci writes, "Protesting and trying to bring change. And I'll do the same in five years time. Becuase this democracy is not the one I like to live in". Protest yes, but violence no!
Most probably Ms. Gauci is too young to remember those days.
One thing I am certain of, had Dr. Sant just kept silent during the last election campaign, he would have been Prime Minister today. Of course, his colleagues would still have managed to come up with a few gems of their own.
Dr. Sant is not the only one angered by the MITTS affair, but let the police investigate without interference.
I'm tempted to think you are a nostalgic who misses those times, just for the sake of having fresh fodder against something vaguely reminiscent of Labour.
History pops in and out of these arguments so conveniently that we tend to forget the present and future. Last thing we all need is Mr Martinelli's "A History of How the PN Gallantly Defeated the Troglodite Labourites and Rescued Malta from Oblivion."
The Labour government did indeed see to freedom of speech and expression in the 1974 Constitution - then proceeded to act differently.
Ask The Times.
The 1974 constitution also provided for the Constitutional Court which was arbitrarily suspended when convenient to the government as were the court premises ransacked when the courts ruled against a government decision !!!!
I had already sent my answers (individually), before you even asked. But thanks for the reminder.
How about pointing out any misconceptions I may have regarding the MLP and Labour governments of the past?
Noel Cutajar - you defeat your argument. Dr Sant went to the police after allegations were leaked to him. Dr. Gonzi asked the Commissioner to start investigations as soon as Dr. Sant made them public. So?
Eric Saliba & Steve Carr
Where I live, the RCMP would have been called in to investigate. Resignations follow when a case is proven.
Joe Vassallo
Of course this situation is unprecedented. There were no computers in Labour's time. I have never seen an igloo, have you?
Enzo Caruana
Investigating 'thouroughly and transparently' does not require the Commissioner, PM or anyone else to give you daily reports on the progress of the investigation.
@ M Borg
Shows you how closely I follow events in Malta.
@ Smuscat
I watch NET news rarely - hard to get due to time difference.
@ Philip Pace
You are so right. The PM should not remain cool. He should be standing on his head, run around like a chicken with his head cut off, grandstand just to give you the impression that he is doing something. In the meantime the Commiss & Co. should remain in their HQ and let the PM to handle the case.
maybe in your next comment you'll find the time, or the courage, to answer the various questions many posters have been asking you hereunder.
Serious criminal offences are investigated by the police - not politicians.
All Sant is doing here is adding one more allegation that he has been hacked - no proof yet. The police will find out.
Resignation will only be considered in case of negligence on someone's part. All of you think that because you use a keyboard, you know everything about computers. You don't as much as I don't, but, computer crime is nearly always done remotely. A supervisor may not be aware of the activity unless the computer's programme gives out an alert.
Dr Sant cried wolf before - for 16 long years.
MITTS is not handling the incident and shouldn't. The cyber crime unit is and will come out with the answer when it's ready.
And no, I shall not give it a rest until these allegations cease. I have as much right to express my opinion in a democracy irrespective of location. If I were unable to read this, I would not be able to respond. Do you regard nonresidents as underprivileged or are these the remnants of the infamous law against 'foreign interference'?
Sour grapes!!!!!!!!!!
If it is handling such sensitive information which can very easily be hacked into then MITTS should be independent and accountable to parliament and free from political interference otherwise no one is ever going to trust it again.
In these circumstances the investigation should be carried out by an investigative team comprising not just members of the police but also representatives of the main interests at stake including the political parties, otherwise there will always be doubts as to whether there was any political interefence with the inquiry.
I feel that these things are not taken seriously enough in Malta.
Though appreciating the fact that the matter is quite extremely serious and it involves National Security and also Data Protection (I stand to be corrected here) I feel that the Prime Minister has committed another blunder by involving the Police.
All the citizens of Malta have the utmost priority to know all the details as it is the only way that they can understand what really happened, who was involved, and what was the motive behind this crime.
It is no use for the Prime Minister to remain so cool about it as he is losing all the credibility from the people who voted for him.
It is time for the PM to come clean about all the illegal things that are happening within his Government.
It is a very scandalous crime that has been committed from persons working under one or many Ministries that should show the country how it is being run in a much sordid way.
When shall we know THE REAL FACTS AS HOW THEY HAPPENED?
What can the Police do as they are first loyal to the Government and then, maybe to the citizens?
Can we have peace of mind?
What for? To have some MP put his neck out to defend the accused, lest they lose their job?
Haven't we seen (and heard) it all before with the case at the Transport Authority? And the hopeless justifications for such miserable acts?
I fully endorse the present government and its policies, but I'm not blind, and seriously believe that really needs to perform some cleaning in the various corridors, hoping that we won't be disappointed by some MP trying to defend the usual pack of friends. We're supposed to be responsible grown ups.
And yes, heads SHOULD roll - sometimes you've got to give people what they want - even if it's blood (while avoiding scapegoats).
One last thing - could the governemtn please ensure that potential employees are propely filtered before being employed, especially in sensitive places?
Is a police investigation always serious? You know well enough that most times it is but sometimes it isn't. This matter is so serious that we need Gonzi's safe pair of hands to make sure that everything is done in a transparent manner. But, like most Maltese, I question if he will take any serious action against persons who might have helped his party get elected by a whisker.
No chance of that happening. I look forward to seeing Dr Sant taking the case to EU quarters. It should be interesting to see what competent EU institutions will have to say on this delicate matter!
Why don't you unplug yourself from netnews sometimes and actually use a critical thought process that God has so gracefully given to all of us. You do understand that mitts is trusted with safeguarding all government data, this includes, taxes paid by everyone, emails, all sorts of information that if they fall in the wrong hands could cause untold damage. It is yours and everyones interest that we see that this security is maintained and that there is transparency in seeing what went wrong and how it has been fixed. Transparency helps keeping people accountable for the work they are paid to do. Dr A Sant was just asking for that and I don't see why he should be attacked for something everyone should be asking for.
That being said, I know for a fact that Mitts is staffed by extremely talented IT officers who can be trusted to take care of Government data.
Apparently anything linked with Alfred Sant still ruffles your feathers. Just imagine this case happened in Canada and perhaps you would begin to realise the seriousness of the whole shenanigan. Unfortunately your customary blinkered pro-PN and anti-MLP comments just muddle any sane and logical argument you may have.
Dont you know that under this government no one steps down and the word Jirrezenja is not found in our maltese dictionaries any more ... Hey Martinelli tell us then! how did you end up in Canada shame for such a Nazzjonalist. You hate Dr Sant dont You?
what boggles my mind is how someone living so far away writes so much on everything...give us a break sometime pls.
I suggest Lou and Joe to produce a program about the matter........oh sorry I forgot that the election is in 5 years time!!!
Incredibly enough nobody has resigned yet, this is serious stuff gentlemen and serious stuff requires serious actions and the minister has to act if not then he has to be held accountable. Unluckily we live in Malta where resignations are something unheard of and all this reflects in the level of seriousness of the whole country.
"Dr Gonzi must take serious action."
Isn't a police investigation serious?
Please do give us a break. This is an extremely serious matter that in a democracy worthy of its name would have broought with itb the resignation of the minister responsible for them person concerned would have tendered his resignation until the investigations were carreid out thouroughly and transparently. If, from the comfort of your Toronto home, you have missed the court proceedings of the Mistra affair, you would have by now learnt that Alfred Sant has been more than proved right about his claims and accusations.
There is nothing mind boggling here. The allegation is that a fundamental human right of the individual's right to privacy of one's mail as enshrined in the European Charter of Human Rights has been violated and the Prime Minister and the Minister concerned owe the nation and the persons concerned much more than withewash and waffle.
This is European Malta not Mugabe's Zimbabwe Mr Martinelli
So now i'm not even safe to mail my representatives?
oh yes! european standards!
So what actually are you on about? The point of it all is that a serious criminal offense has been made, one that is, to date, unparalleled in our recent history, and all you can do is to try and attack Alfred Sant.
Your problem seems to be not the fact that the Govt is refusing to even make a statement, but that Alfred Sant dared to criticise the way the matter is being handled. I mean, come on, what right does the opposition have to crticise!
How pathetic and hypocritical can you get!! Are you so steeped in partisan propoganda to not have even have the guts to say that this is wrong?
As far as I recall, EFA did not bother to wait for the polie to conclude their investigation into the corruption case involving members of the judiciary - he even mentioned them by name in his televised statement.
Take my advice and stick to designing igloos or whatever you do in Canada.
If the Maltese government cannot guarantee that gov.mt email accounts are supported by the proper mechanisms for confidentiality, security and non-repudiation can our politicians risk using these email accounts for government matters? Can the government ever restore credibility?
again today you could not hide your hostility towards the ex labour leader.
let me ask you one simple question. what would happen in canada (where you reside) were this breach of fundamental rights to take place? but then this is malta where gonzipn never get the blame for anything.
btw if i were you i wouldn't mention mistra.
Each person using the gov.mt email accounts has a right to what has been accessed. The pleasure of hackers into any system is to get the buzz of cracking firewalls, retrieve data or worse of hacking the system and change it. This particular case shows that the intention was mere spying on whoever was the target...why not use it for personal benefit, political benefit...time will tell when the investigation is made 'public' (if people are taken to court). I have enough experience of cover ups that do not make it to the public (and documented!!!).
When you start being objective in your posts I will start to take them seriously. I haven't yet read any of your posts which does not protect and excuse the PN governmet for all its shortcomings.
Is this the same Mr. Sant who, cameras, deputies, reporters and all posed in front of the Police HQ with papers in hand telling the nation that he was handing important evidence of corruption regarding the Mistra affair? Only to find out that the PM had beat him to it?
Now, that the government has done very much the same as he did in the Mistra case, he has accused the government of using police investigations into alleged hacking at MITTS as a screen so as not to give an account of what had really happened.
Could this be a throwback when the police Commissioner was referred to as a 'paraventu'? What are police investigations for? But then I forget that the police force has been deprived of the professional services of Mr. Sant's friend and Joseph's deputy, for some time now.
It boggles one's mind, doesn't it?
this is a scandal.... how our ex-leader had his email hacked .
where is the data protection ???
shame on those who do these acts. Dr Gonzi must take serious action.