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News • August 8 2004


PM’s aide denies Mater Dei report leak

Karl Schembri

The prime minister’s spokesman, Alan Camilleri, has denied leaking any information about the arraignment of private investigator Joe Zahra on charges of fabricating evidence in a report alleging bribery in the Mater Dei Hospital tender for the supply of medical equipment.
Questions sent to Camilleri last week remained unanswered but the Director of the Department of Information, Emanuel Abela, sent a statement Monday denying that Camilleri leaked any information to The Sunday Times and The Malta Independent on Sunday.
“The Office of the Prime Minister received a number of queries from journalists of the two newspapers mentioned by you,” Abela wrote. “The questions were duly answered and therefore this is not a case of leaked information as suggested by you. The Prime Minister reiterates his statement that the matter was referred to the competent authorities for investigation in accordance with the laws of the country. The due process of law will now take its course in our courts of law. Since the matter is now sub judice, any further comments would be uncalled for.”
In what has now become the Office of the Prime Minister’s typical way of dealing with MaltaToday queries, Camilleri ignored all the questions sent in writing and ‘replied’ through the state’s official propaganda department. His silence neither clarifies the inaccuracies reported by the two Sunday newspapers nor does it establish how information about an ongoing police investigation was strategically leaked to the press on that day.
News about Zahra’s impending arraignment on charges of false allegations was leaked to The Malta Independent on Sunday and The Sunday Times on 25 July, and it is now clear that the leaks contained pieces of misinformation fed to both newspapers.
Both front-page stories said that the investigator had passed a damning report to the prime minister, demanding Lm1 million for further information substantiating his allegations. Zahra denied both claims in a press statement issued through his legal counsel on Wednesday.
Simed’s legal advisor Joe Fenech explained to MaltaToday that it was Simed who commissioned Zahra to investigate the award of the contract towards the end of 2002, after the contracts department had granted the multi-million hospital equipment contract to rival consortium INSO. Dr Fenech said Simed passed the report to the prime minister and Zahra never asked Gonzi for Lm 1 million, contrary to what both Sunday newspapers had reported.
Noel Grima of the Independent quoted Alan Camilleri as saying that the government’s information was that the allegations had proved to be false or based on falsified evidence.
Steve Mallia of The Times quoted “the Prime Minister’s spokesman” as confirming that allegations had been made in this report and that they were unfounded. Mallia added that the spokesman declined to give further details.

 

 

 





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