Three senior army officers who were passed over for promotion and subsequently transferred to the Detention Service have had their appointments withdrawn, meaning that they keep their rank but cannot exercise their authority, Nationalist MP Jason Azzopardi said in parliament this evening.

He said the order was issued by army commander Brigadier Geoffrey Curmi on October 13 in what he said was a fresh attempt to demoralise these officers.

He noted that these officers included a woman major who was transferred to a detention centre where there were no women and a major who was  a graduate in IT but had also ended up in a Detention Centre.

Withdrawal of appointment was unprecedented except for a case where two officers had their appointment withdrawn after failing security screening, Dr Azzopardi said.

In contrast, however, these three officers - Lt Col Ruggier, his wife Major Ruggier, and Major Summut, had always done their duty. Their only problem was that they were not at the core of the Labour Party. 

In his speech, Dr Azzopardi also spoke on the police force, saying the force had run out of money to the extent that some inspectors could not be picked up in a staff car and were picked up by a prison van. The standing joke, he said, was that at least they were not picked up by the mortuary van.

He said the lack of funds was affecting everything, from the replacement of printer toners, to training sessions.