Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1524066
5 maltatoday | WEDNESDAY • 17 JULY 2024 NEWS FORMER European Commis- sioner John Dalli has accused his former boss, José Manuel Durao Barroso, of having attempted to stop him from pursuing his re- vision of the Tobacco Products Directive, ahead of his eventu- al resignation from the post of health commissioner in October 2012. Dalli was speaking at a press conference he organised on Tuesday morning at Portomaso in Malta, weeks after an appeals court in Brussels upheld the court of first instance's sentence against former OLAF chief Gio- vanni Kessler. Kessler was convicted of hav- ing carried out an illegal wire- tap on Silvio Zammit, a Maltese canvasser of Dalli's who solicited a €60 million bribe from the Eu- ropean smokeless tobacco lobby Estoc, to influence the revision of the Tobacco Products Direc- tive's retail ban on snus tobacco. Dalli told journalists that testi- mony by Kessler in the appeals case – decided on 19 June 2024 – the former prosecutor said it was Barroso who instructed him to commence the investigation. Dalli said the allegations against him were made by a Phillip Morris lobbyist to then Commission secretary-general Catherine Day, and passed on to Barroso. "OLAF confirmed in its report, which remains unpublished to this day, that I was not the in- stigator or a participant in this affair. The decision-making pro- cess in Sanco was not affected in any way… no money changed hands. "Yet Kessler needed to sub- stantiate some grounds for Bar- roso to take me out of office days before I was to take tough new measures against tobacco. These conclusions were the phone- calls taking place between me and Zammit," Dalli said. He claimed those phone-calls were Zammit keeping him in- formed of political develop- ments in Malta at the time, and had nothing to do with the al- leged bribe requests. Dalli insisted that the tobacco lobby as having been "militant" against his proposed changes to the Tobacco Products Directive. "I was fraudulently accused and humiliated – my country was humiliated. I fought alone for 12 years against the wealth of the tobacco lobby and the cor- ruption of the institutions. I will dedicate my life to ensure justice is done, demolishing the omertà of those involved," Dalli told the press. Questions on a controversial career Although for Dalli, Kessler's conviction is not the end of the line in the entire 'snusgate' affair, he refused to concede to his un- suitability in the role of Europe- an Commissioner, when before 2012 his family was pursuing business interests with a group of American investors who lat- er said they were defrauded by a Dalli associate, and when he hid the existence of a secret offshore company. In the rally of questions from the press, Dalli was made to an- swer various inquiries on many aspects of his controversial ca- reer: he accused his former aide Joanna Darmanin of being a per- juror, and denied conflicts of in- terest he held as Commissioner while he was pursuing business interests with a group of Amer- ican investors in the Bahamas – that midsadventure led to mon- ey laundering charges against his daughters; at one point, asked about a secret offshore company he did not declare to the Europe- an Commission, he also accused the ICIJ being a Soros-funded in- stitution, the Hungarian-Ameri- can billionaire whom he says "fi- nances abortion campaigns." He was also asked about his knowledge of Shaukat Ali, the middleman in the Vitals hospi- tals PPP. He described a meeting Ali held with former OPM chief of staff Keith Schembri – both facing corruption charges – as a "red flag". Dalli refused to delve into why the Maltese police in 2012 had not charged Maltese lawyer Gay- le Kimberley, identified as a sus- pect in the OLAF investigation. As a lobbyist for snus producer Swedish Match, Kimberley was believed to have had a role in encouraging Zammit to solicit the bribe. "What I can say is this – she had been bound for a job at the Office of the Prime Min- ister," he said, referring to for- mer PM and arguably his nem- esis Lawrence Gonzi. "Who was pushing for her to be employed there? And whay was that deci- sion then changed after this af- fair?" The Dalligate scandal, as it was called, erupted when John Dalli was working on changes to the EU's Tobacco Products Direc- tive. His aide Silvio Zammit, who has since died, was accused of seeking a €60 million bribe. It was at his restaurant that Zammit had been first solicit- ed by a Maltese lobbyist, lawyer Gayle Kimberley, to approach John Dalli on behalf of Es- toc, and Swedish firm Swedish Match. The company was seek- ing a reversal of the EU retail ban on snus. Dalli resigned on 16 October 2012 after a four-month inves- tigation by the EU's anti-fraud unit, led by its chief Giovanni Kessler. OLAF said there was circumstantial evidence that Dalli was aware of Zammit's of- fer to Estoc. Zammit was later charged in December 2012. The OLAF report resulted in Dalli's resignation from com- missioner. But while Dalli was accused of failing to disclose some meetings with tobac- co lobbyists, the OLAF report found no direct link between the Maltese commissioner and the request for bribes. Kessler contended at the time there was "unambiguous cir- cumstantial evidence" that Dalli knew about it – a list of phone calls made from Zammit to Dal- li at the same time that he had been in conversation with Swed- ish Match and Estoc. However, Kessler later ended up in the spotlight as Belgian authorities started looking into allegations that the Dalligate in- vestigation was poorly conduct- ed and politically motivated. Zammit had been charged by the police in Malta with bribery but the case never came to its end. Zammit often complained that the delay in his court hear- ing had breached his rights. Dalli was however only charged with the offence in 2022 – 10 years later. The former com- missioner denied the charges, which include trading in influ- ence and attempted bribery. The case against Dalli in the Maltese courts is ongoing. The police never took action against Gayle Kimberley, for- merly a lawyer at the European Council's legal services in Brus- sels, despite OLAF also recom- mending criminal prosecution for lying about a meeting she alleged having with Dalli per- sonally in his St Julian's office. Zammit's defence lawyer Ed- ward Gatt had complained that the Maltese police had refused to charge Kimberley. Dalli, bruised by Barroso, vows to keep up fight for justice after Kessler conviction John Dalli addressing the Maltese press (Photo: James Bianchi) "I was fraudulently accused and humiliated – my country was humiliated. I fought alone for 12 years against the wealth of the tobacco lobby and the corruption of the institutions. I will dedicate my life to ensure justice is done, demolishing the omertà of those involved." MATTHEW VELLA mvella@mediatoday.com.mt