The man at the heart of the Dalligate affair yesterday claimed he had turned down an offer of a Presidential pardon in 2012 to spill the beans on former European Commissioner John Dalli because he could not live with himself if he lied.
Silvio Zammit said that in November 2012 (around the same time that he was first arrested) a lawyer close to the Nationalist Party approached him and made the offer. In return, he had to say “something” about Mr Dalli.
“I said immediately that I did not want this. I said that it was not right for me to say something which was not true. I asked him if he thought I could live with myself havingtold lies about someone else,” Mr Zammit said.
Times of Malta asked Mr Zammit to name the person who made the offer. However, through his lawyer, he said he had nothing more to add to the statement. “My client feels that it is not the right time to name this person and I do not have the mandate to disclose it,” lawyer Kris Busietta said.
It was not right for me to say something which was not true
Mr Zammit is pleading not guilty to charges of trading in influence for having allegedly asked tobacco company Swedish Match for a bribe of €60 million in return for the lifting of a ban on snus – an orally-consumed form of tobacco that can only be sold in Sweden under EU rules.
Mr Dalli was forced to resign over the case in October 2002. However, he never faced charges even though former police commissioner John Rizzo is on record saying he intended arraigning him.
In his statement, the former Nationalist deputy mayor for Sliema made it a point to underscore that this offer came under a “Nationalist Administration”.
He said that when he was interrogated, Mr Rizzo, in the presence of other officers, sought information about Mr Dalli. Mr Zammit said he was told: “Shoulder the whole responsibility yourself once you prefer not to speak.”
He claimed Mr Rizzo switched off the tape recorder and asked him what Mr Dalli’s share would have been from the €60 million. Mr Zammit said he told Mr Rizzo to switch the tape recorder on again. However, when he did and asked Mr Rizzo to repeat his questions, the former police chief denied having asked them, Mr Zammit said.
The restaurateur was also critical of the present police leadership.He said that, last year, he had handed over to the police his computer hard disk and other evidence but nothing had been produced in court despite the duty of the police to submit all evidence, for or against the accused.
Had that happened, he said, a lot of media speculation would have ceased and action could have been taken against whoever was involved in this mess, Mr Zammit said.
He ended with a staunch defence of Mr Dalli, insisting he was extraneous to the whole affair. “I can only say that Mr Dalli was not involved in this whole issue,” he said.