The truth behind the tragic death of Gunner Matthew Psaila is not being covered up, insists Brigadier Carmel Vassallo, commander of the Armed Forces of Malta.

"It is not true the army is treating the family like the enemy. I can assure them we're not ignoring them or hiding something intentionally... I don't know what will emerge from the court proceedings but that is beyond my control," he said.

Brig. Vassallo was contacted for his reaction after the parents of the 19-year-old soldier who died during a military exercise last February appealed for the absolute truth, not cover-ups. They said they could not achieve closure until they knew what happened during their son's last moments.

Gunner Psaila died in the early hours of February 16 after succumbing to injuries he sustained three days earlier during a training exercise at Chadwick Lakes, with the army's C (Special Duties) Company.

Brig. Vassallo sounded hurt that the parents believed he was severing contact with them: "When I saw Matthew I felt as if my son was on that hospital bed. Believe me, I really feel that way. I don't know what they're expecting to hear from me... The case is now in court but I was with them and I remain with them. I'm sorry for what happened."

He denied that the soldiers who were with Gunner Psaila on that fated exercise had been instructed not to speak to the family and even expressed surprise at the family's accusations.

"I can assure you as AFM commander this is not the case. If somebody has issued such instructions without the commander's direction he is making a mistake. I'll look into it but I can assure you it's not the case," he said.

Brig. Vassallo stressed that if there were things he did not know about, he was as eager as the family to see the truth emerge.

"I have nothing to hide and if there are shortcomings we need to know about them to learn from them. If you're asking whether heads should roll, first I need to see if somebody is trying to make my head roll. However, I don't think it should be a witch hunt," he said.

The family provided photos comparing the same exercise: one held in April 2008 and the other on a biting cold day in February. In the first one, soldiers wore T-shirts, carried nothing but a wooden log and waded through water barely knee-high. There were also more supervisors than the three observing the training in February.

In contrast, Gunner Psaila's exercise saw each soldier wearing a helmet, carrying a rifle and a 13-kilogramme kit on his back through water that was up to two metres deep. The family said army sources told them the water on that fateful February day was below 5˚C.

While agreeing it had been cold and windy that day, Brig. Vassallo said some of those same soldiers had already experienced those conditions in a similar exercise in Italy. He said the army wanted its people to be prepared in the best way possible for any emergency, once again stressing he empathised with the parents' loss.

Was he happy with the army board's decision not to suspend the two soldiers - Lieutenant Christian Vella, 27, and Lance Bombardier Marvic Peregin, 31 - charged with Gunner Psaila's involuntary homicide through negligence?

"Yes, I endorse the recommendations. If there are shortcomings, at this point in time can anybody point towards criminal intent? We have to let justice take its course," he said.

On the fact that Lance Bombardier Peregin had been found guilty of taking part in a hold-up, Brig. Vassallo said he had learnt about this before the court proceedings in July.

He said a police conduct, not a criminal record, was required from those seeking to join the army and it was only when they had suspicions that they dug deeper into a person's past.

"Despite being a relapser, (Lance Bombardier) Peregin is a good soldier and I have been told he was instrumental in ensuring the accident (of Matthew Psaila) was not made worse," he said.

Brig. Vassallo ended by reiterating he too wanted the truth to come out.

"There have been cases where I was called to stand in court, and some questions do throw you, but I never escaped the truth. I hope my actions as a commander go down the line... Sometimes we create doubts where they don't exist, as if the AFM has a different plot than the family's, far from it."