Police inspector defends his actions

The allegations against Police Inspector Angelo Gafa being made by the Marsaxlokk Football Club were untrue, unacceptable and inexcusable, the inspector said in an official letter he filed this morning.

Insp. Gafa filed his letter in reply to another which had been filed against him by the club complaining about his "unethical and irresponsible" behaviour during football corruption investigations.

The club alleged that the inspector mentioned individual magistrates by name in an attempt to influence the decision on whether to admit guilt by one of the two people charged with bribery.

Insp. Gafa had investigated and arraigned two people over football corruption charges and both cases had been decided upon. In July, the Board for the Investigation of Corrupt Practices began to investigate the match-fixing case involving Premier League club Marsaxlokk.

The club had said that on several occasions it requested Insp. Gafa to appear before the investigating board but he never turned up.

In his letter, Insp. Gafa said the club knew very well that after he was asked, twice, to attend a sitting of the investigating board, he sought his superiors' consent to attend but this was not given and the Malta Football Association was informed.

Marsaxlokk’s insistence on the importance of witnesses who appeared in front of the board was personally directed at him and was irrelevant.

In this, as in any other case, Insp. Gafa argued, he did doing his duty as a police officer investigating two bribery cases.

When he found there was enough evidence to justify legal procedures, he arraigned two men, the case was decided and an appeal was filed.

As prosecutor, he did his duty well and the allegations in Marsaxlokk’s letter were made in a way to try and influence the procedures in front of the board and to discredit him in an unjust and abusive way.

It was unacceptable and inexcusable for the club to throw a shadow of a doubt on the validity of the accused’s admission of guilt.

The club’s behaviour was blatantly abusive. To try and defend its position, it tried to attack the integrity and professionalism of others with unfounded allegations, including personal ones. This was despicable, Insp. Gafa said.