Nationalist Party whip David Agius has adamantly denied obstructing the police in the course of their duties but the police say they are investigating the case.
I wonder who has the interest to damage my reputation and create such a storm in a tea cup and why?
The Times is informed that two traffic policemen filed a report earlier this month claiming the MP prevented them from investigating a parker working near the basketball pavilion at Ta’ Qali.
Questions sent to the police about the incident last week were met with a brief response only yesterday: “Please note that the case is being investigated by the police. Investigations are still ongoing.”
But Mr Agius, who is currently representing Parliament at an executive committee meeting of the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association in the Kingdom of Tonga, said he had not yet been contacted by the police.
“I have not, since the day of the alleged incident, been contacted or notified by the police regarding this matter. The police have not felt the need to ask me anything. I left Malta last Saturday and will be back next Sunday evening and will then take all the necessary action,” he said, without specifying what kind of action he would take.
He was replying to questions by The Times which included whether he would resign until the investigation was concluded.
“I deny completely that I have in any way or another obstructed the police in doing their duty,” he added.
Mr Agius said he was simply asked by the general secretary of the Malta Basketball Association to confirm to the police that the parking area belonged to the association, which he did.
“I wonder who has the interest to damage my reputation and create such a storm in a tea cup and why,” he added.
MBA secretary Joseph Muscat confirmed Mr Agius’s version of events, saying the parking area was part of the association’s premises and had been transferred to it through a parliamentary decision five months ago.
“I asked David Agius, as an MP, to inform the policemen that the land had been transferred to the association in Parliament,” he said, adding the licensed parker was working legally.
“It is our parking area and we can do what we want there, including charge for parking,” Mr Muscat said. He said the police initially wanted to take down the particulars of the parker but he insisted that if a report was going to be filed it had to be against the association’s officials, not the parker.
Mr Muscat said he told the police they were on private property and required a warrant, after which he asked Mr Agius to back him up regarding the transfer of the land to the association.
“David was calming me down because I was very angry,” Mr Muscat admitted, adding that the police began accusing him of obstructing them.
The PN has refused to comment on the matter, saying only that it had nothing to add to Mr Agius’s replies. A spokesman for the Office of the Prime Minister pointed out that Mr Agius has no official government role.
The police refused to answer a series of questions about the case, such as whether action was taken against the parker and whether the ownership of the parking area had been established.