[attach id=283667 size="medium"]Former EU Commissioner John Dalli.[/attach]

Opposition leader Simon Busuttil yesterday refuted claims made by John Dalli that the PN had mounted pressure to have him charged over bribery allegations.

Mr Dalli issued his statement on Monday in the wake of the PN leader’s repeated declarations that police commissioner Peter Paul Zammit dropped the case against the former EU Commissioner due to political interference from the Labour government.

Dr Busuttil is basing his claim on the testimony of former police commissioner John Rizzo who said that he had planned to charge Mr Dalli after consulting the Attorney General.

However, his successor did not forge ahead with this plan, saying there was insufficient evidence to do so.

In his statement Mr Dalli accused the Opposition leader of “contradicting the known truth maliciously” when stating that he came back to Malta from Brussels, after months of “psycho-social” care, when the Police Commissioner was replaced.

Asked by Times of Malta for his reaction to Mr Dalli’s statement, the PN leader yesterday said that his point was not whether John Dalli was guilty or not, adding that it was up to the court to deter-mine that.

“My point is that there was political interference in the course of justice, as well as to highlight the role of the Police Commissioner who decided to drop the case soon after his ‘political’ appointment,” said Dr Busuttil.

Asked about Mr Dalli’s claim that he was not being truthful, the PN leader said that between Mr Dalli and the former police commissioner – who was speaking under oath – he chose to believe the latter.

Correction

In yesterday’s story entitled PN Put Pressure To Get Me Charged, Says Dalli, it was stated that former European Commissioner John Dalli returned to Malta on April 6 “when the new (police) commissioner Peter Paul Zammit was appointed”. Mr Zammit was in fact appointed on April 12. The error and any inconvenience caused is regretted.