The family of Nicholas Azzopardi, who died after falling from a bastion wall while in police custody five years ago, believes the introduction of the Whistleblower Act will help shed some light on the mysterious death.
Without these mechanisms, any inquiry would be a waste of time and taxpayers’ money
His brother, Reno, said this mechanism will allow people who are possibly living in fear to come out and tell all they know about the case.
He was contacted after the fourth inquiry into the case ruled out that crucial CCTV footage of the incident had been tampered with, as had been alleged.
The inquiry, concluded three weeks ago after witnesses’ testimony was heard, unearthed “no new facts” and found that the footage was intact and no part of it had been eliminated or erased.
Mr Azzopardi was “not surprised” at the outcome of the inquiry, only taken aback by the time it took to conclude, having only been ordered last November.
“From the outset, we were not very happy about the fact that it was the same magistrate who was tasked with revisiting his own inquiry because it would follow the same line of investigation,” he said when contacted.
“We have no idea whether they spoke to all the people involved in the way the CCTV footage was collected, if there is a proper audit trail of all the material kept and removed and if the original back-ups containing all the material, even those which seemed irrelevant at the moment, were kept as should be done by law.”
He also questioned whether the magistrate conducted any further investigation and raised questions on the missing footage from Special Branch, which captured all those entering and exiting the CID Yard.
“This footage was all overwritten and destroyed when the inspector in charge was given orders to collect what was relevant; there was ample time to make back-ups,” he said.
The case sparked controversy when on his deathbed Mr Azzopardi claimed the police beat him and threw him off a bastion wall while in custody facing allegations he had abused his seven-year-old daughter.
Subsequent inquiries failed to unearth any wrongdoing by police but the family have always alleged foul play, believing there were people who were prepared to talk if given protection.
However, an amnesty offered by then Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi last year to anyone who was aware of any abuse that may have taken place yielded no results.
Asked whether they would request an independent inquiry, Mr Azzopardi replied: “It is only after this mechanism [a Whistleblower Act] is in place that I can tell you what our position is.
“But without these mechanisms, any inquiry would be a waste of time and taxpayers’ money.”
Mr Azzopardi said his family’s efforts were “not a crusade against anyone” but simply part of their mission to seek the truth.
“Ours is a national case. We wrote a book and raised a lot of questions on what may have really happened.
“Some of these questions are on the CCTV footage, the way it was collected. Did the magistrate read the book? I don’t know.
“We want Nicholas’s case to serve as an eye opener.”