Everyone will have the opportunity to judge the integrity of Minister Carmelo Abela when he was responsible for the police force, former Police Inspector Jonathan Ferris said on Thursday.

Asked for a reaction to a statement by the minister, in which the latter admitted that he had asked, through his secretary, about information on an ongoing police investigation, but said that he was just asking on behalf of a victim, Mr Ferris said the public will judge when the facts are published.

“This morning Minster Abela put my credibility into question. When things are out the nation will have the opportunity to question his (Minister Abela’s) credibility.”

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Asked whether he felt that Minister Abela was interfering in his police work, Mr Ferris, who was the investigative inspector working on the case which the minister had asked about, said that “when the email correspondence is published everyone will be able to reach his own conclusions”.

Until the last elections, Foreign Minister Carmelo Abela was directly responsible for the police.

Although he denied interfering in police investigations he admitted that his secretary had asked the former police inspector about the ongoing investigation.

Mr Ferris said that in spite of assurances that he was being given full police protection, he did not feel or see such protection.

His lawyer, Jason Azzopardi, said that this was also the case in relation to his family.