Two Sliema local councillors, who were arrested very publicly in January over suspected misuse of council laptops, claimed the case against them has been closed but the police say this is “absolutely untrue”.

Nationalist councillor Yves Bobby Calì proclaimed his innocence in a council magazine he edited, which was published this month and distributed to Sliema households.

He ends his editorial with this postscript: “I would like to point out that this magazine was entirely prepared on my own personal computer and in my own time. The allegations that I have misappropriated or used equipment belonging to the council have proved to be totally unfounded and may have stemmed from malice or fabrication.”

Meanwhile, Labour councillor Martin Debono, who was arrested together with Mr Calì, claimed he too was told that the case against him was closed during his latest round of police questioning some weeks ago.

The Labour councillor, who has served for some 10 years, had strongly criticised the way he was arrested in January after a council meeting, saying he had also been humiliatingly strip-searched before being interrogated.

Speaking to The Times, Mr Debono said it took many weeks for him to get over the traumatic experience and lamented the fact that it was all “unnecessary”.

He said the councillors did not need to be arrested in the street at night and could have simply been called to the police depot. He also complained about the cell at the police depot, calling the whole atmosphere “mediaeval” and saying things had to be changed.

He added that, after his latest call to the police, he asked what was going to happen next and was told the case was over.

But when faced with these claims, the police strongly denied the matter had been concluded in the councillors’ favour.

“We will soon conclude our investigations following which a number of persons are expected to be charged in court,” the police’s media arm told The Times.

Those arraigned are expected to include Mr Calì and Mr Debono as well as three other councillors who were arrested during the same time period: former mayor Nikki Dimech (who already faces charges of bribery), Sliema councillor Patrick Pace and St Julians councillor Raymond Cachia.

The case against Mr Calì and Mr Debono – which is unrelated to those of the other three – is rather complicated and has never been fully explained officially.

However, The Times had revealed minutes of council meetings which shed some light. During a meeting with the council’s accountant, Mr Calì remained silent when the other councillors asked about two invoices for computer hardware and software. The next day he returned the laptops without hard disks or power supplies.

The issue was raised again at another meeting, on October 7, attended by both Mr Debono and Mr Calì, where the executive secretary said the two Apple laptops had been returned.

The minutes then record Mr Debono saying he was using his laptop for the residential parking zones project and Mr Calì was using his to produce a magazine for the council. Mr Debono said the hard disks were not returned because they had been bought by the councillors themselves.

Councillor Sandra Camilleri pointed out that, despite being present at the other meeting, Mr Calì had not said anything about the laptops. The minutes do not indicate any reaction from Mr Calì.