Former police commissioner Peter Paul Zammit has strenuously denied accusations that he handed confidential documents to the press, after an inquiry found these were in his office at the time they were leaked.

Mr Zammit was reacting to comments by justice shadow minister Jason Azzopardi who yesterday said it was “clearly” Mr Zammit who had handed police inspector Elton Taliana’s personal file to Malta Today managing editor Saviour Balzan.

Dr Azzopardi was referring to the findings of a Data Protection Commissioner investigation, revealed by Times of Malta yesterday, which found that the documents had been illegally copied and passed on to Mr Balzan after they had been requested by Mr Zammit.

The investigation, however, does not conclude that the files were leaked by Mr Zammit – only that they were in his possession at the time.

Times of Malta yesterday erroneously carried a heading stating ‘Former chief of police copied records illegally’. (See clarification on page 4)

Reacting, Mr Zammit said: “As usual Jason Azzopardi’s accusations are unfounded and illogical. I deny this accusation outright.”

Mr Zammit later added that he would be seeking legal advice as to whether or not to take action against Dr Azzopardi for his remarks.

Mr Zammit said the Data Protection Commissioner’s inquiry had only been requested by Mr Taliana’s lawyer, Joe Zammit Maempel, to “raise a smokescreen” to distract from “some very serious offences” his own client had committed.

Files have a tendency to get lost: look at Taliana’s own file regarding the decision by the Police Board to take action against him

Mr Taliana had been chastised by the Police Board for failing to alert his chain of command about a mistake made by the Criminal Investigations Department involving the arrest of a man for robbery.

Mr Zammit resigned just a year after being appointed to the helm of the corps.

He was immediately given a new post by the government as head of security for national events, including November’s upcoming Commonwealth summit, CHOGM.

Dr Azzopardi yesterday called on the government to terminate Mr Zammit’s employment, claiming his position was untenable.

“Peter Paul Zammit is not fit for purpose. He is, at best, an embarrassment and at worst a threat to a citizen’s right to privacy. We have seen this time and again,” Dr Azzopardi said.

Addressing a press conference outside Police Headquarters in Floriana, Dr Azzopardi said Mr Zammit was “no stranger to controversy”.

“There have been at least four instances in which Peter Paul Zammit has been involved in some form of controversy. You cannot trust this man; he is a walking hazard,” he said.

Mr Zammit, meanwhile, said no documents had gone missing from his office and these were still there when he had left his position as police commissioner.

“Files have a tendency to get lost: look at Taliana’s own file regarding the decision by the Police Board to take action against him,” he said, referring to a controversy in which document relating to the board’s decision had disappeared.

Mr Zammit said there were obvious deficiencies in the police filing system and he had raised the issue in the past. “Modifications to the filing system had been requested soon after the Data Protection Act became law, but there was never any political or administrative will to do it. Perhaps now they will be pushed to at least start reviewing the system,” he said.

Clarification

Times of Malta yesterday incorrectly stated in a front-page heading that former police commissioner Peter Paul Zammit had illegally taken a copy of the personal file of Inspector Elton Taliana, when an inquiry by the Data Protection Commissioner investigation made no reference to the identity of the individual who copied the inspector’s records.

As a result of the inquiry, the Data Protection Commissioner fined the current Police Commissioner €500 after Mr Taliana’s file was illegally copied and passed on to Malta Today while it was in the possession of Mr Zammit, who at the time was police commissioner.

The fine was imposed on the current Police Commissioner, Michael Cassar, but the report makes it clear the offence happened under the watch of former police commissioner Peter Paul Zammit.

However, the newspaper’s heading, ‘Former chief of police copied records illegally’, was incorrect and we apologise unreservedly.