Home Affairs Minister Manuel Mallia has put a former AFM commander, Brigadier Maurice Calleja, at the head of a commission that will be looking into hundreds of alleged injustices in the army.
Addressing a public consultation meeting at Castille yesterday evening, Dr Mallia said his ministry was being inundated with armed forces personnel complaining of having been the victims of injustice under the previous administration, particularly related to promotions.
He said the independent commission, which will also include Raphael Farrugia and Roderick Cutajar, will hear the people making the allegations and recommend a way forward within six months.
Brigadier Calleja had to step down as commander in 1993 following the arraignment of his son Meinrad over drug trafficking. Mr Calleja was sentenced to 15 years in jail.
Brigadier Calleja’s son was also accused of complicity in the attempted murder of the Prime Minister’s personal assistant Richard Cachia Caruana in 1994 but was acquitted.
Minister Mallia, in his former capacity as a criminal lawyer, was part of Mr Calleja’s defence counsel.
Minister Mallia also announced that in the coming days there would be more changes in the top echelons of the police force following the change of police commissioner.
He said one of these changes would involve assistant police commissioner Neil Harrison who will now be heading the Visa Unit.
He said changes were in the pipeline in the way the Government dealt with the issuing of visas, residence permits and other matters related to expatriates as the current situation was making Malta resemble a “third world country”.
The Government would be tackling the issue head on with the establishment of a one-stop shop and the introduction of a possible fast track service for foreign investors for all these permits.
A review was also under way in the functioning of the police force, including whether the special assignment group (SAG) should be dismantled and whether district level police stations should be set up.
With regard to the film industry, Dr Mallia said that one of Malta’s biggest assets – the tank facilities in Rinella – was currently locked in a legal dispute which he said should be resolved soon.
Parliamentary Secretary Owen Bonnici, who also addressed the meeting, said the Government should soon be in a position to publish a draft Whistleblower’s Act.