Police commissioner Peter Paul Zammit has denied an accusation that he oversaw an incident of police brutality back in 1985.
What the article doesn’t say is that Mr Pace was found guilty and served time
“I was never involved in any instances of heavy-handed policing,” the Commissioner told The Times, “and the facts of this particular case were not those alleged”.
An article published in Il-Mument reproduced the 1987 court testimony of Louis Pace. Mr Pace claimed that he had been severely beaten and burnt by officers under the watch of Mr Zammit, who at the time was a police inspector.
The libel case during which Mr Pace was testifying was dropped some months later, before Mr Zammit could take the witness stand to put forward his side of events.
“What the article doesn’t say is that Mr Pace was found guilty and served time, and that the court doctor did not find any evidence of this so-called severe beating,” Mr Zammit said.
He admitted that the doctor had found a slight bruise on Mr Pace’s back and “small cigarette burn” on his arm but categorically denied any involvement in mistreatment of suspects.
“I am determined to have a good relationship with the media,” the Commissioner told The Times, “but I don’t think it’s unreasonable to expect respect to be reciprocal. All they had to do was confirm the facts”.
Mr Zammit resumed his police career two weeks ago when he was appointed to the force’s hot seat, replacing John Rizzo who served as commissioner for 12 years.
He had resigned from the force and moved into private legal practice in 2009, having served for over two decades as an inspector and superintendent.