News • January 18 2004

Disgraced police commissioner’s right hand man is secret service head

Kurt Sansone

A innocuous looking Department of Information press release may have gone unnoticed in the media, but the appointment of Godfrey Scicluna as head of the Security service this week has raised many an eyebrow in the police corps.
The veteran police officer was the former police commissioner George Grech’s right hand man and many in the police corps are viewing the appointment with apprehension. "He is George Grech’s shadow," MaltaToday was told by various police officers.
Godfrey Scicluna’s name featured prominently in the sex scandal that saw the demise of George Grech from the police corps in 2001. Scicluna was Grech’s loyal deputy and at the time was reportedly involved in shadowing, Isabelle Azzopardi, the Polish-born Maltese woman making rape allegations against George Grech.
Scicluna was also identified as the person who had delivered gifts to the woman, sent to her by the police commissioner.
In her inquiry magistrate Miriam Hayman had established there was enough prima face evidence to commence proceedings against the former police commissioner on a number of counts including attempted rape, misuse of public funds, misuse of the telephone system, threat and blackmail.
At the time George Grech occupied the dual role of police commissioner and head of the Security Service, putting him in a position of clear conflict of interest.

kurt@newsworksltd.com