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maltatoday, WEDNESDAY, 30 NOVEMBER 2016 7 News Get your FREE copy with the Maltatoday 4 December, 2016 Bogdanovic inquiry report concluded, to be published upon Muscat's return Report on release of arrested footballer sealed at Prime Minister's Office after former army commander Carmelo Vassallo submitted it on Monday JURGEN BALZAN THE report on the release of footballer Daniel Bogdanovic from police custody soon af- ter he was arrested, in order to play a football match, has been concluded and sits in the Prime Minister's Office, awaiting the arrival of Joseph Muscat from his European tour. Former army commander Carmelo Vassallo, who headed the internal inquiry, told Malta- Today that he delivered the re- port to the Office of the Prime Minister on Monday but would not reveal its conclusions. An OPM spokesperson con- firmed that the report was con- signed on Monday and said that it was sealed in the Cabinet's office. "As previously stated, the re- port will be published but the Prime Minister is currently abroad," the spokesperson said, adding that once Muscat re- turns the government will pub- lish the report and announce its decisions. Last week, MaltaToday jour- nalists Saviour Balzan and Mat- thew Vella were summoned to testify before the internal in- quiry, launched after MaltaTo- day revealed that Xewkija Tigers midfielder Daniel Bogdanovic had been released on police bail so that he would be able to play a football match. The player had been ar- rested for threatening his wife and being in pos- session of a gun outside his residence, a day before he was expected to play against Kercem in Gozo. MaltaToday also re- vealed that it was Police Assistant Com- missioner Carmelo Magri who personally contacted the Gozo police sta- tion to talk to senior officers about Bogdanovic's arrest. It was Bogdanovic's wife and her brother – Ghajnsielem footballer Ferdinando Apap – who filed a criminal complaint with the police on threatening mobile phone messages that Bogdanovic al- legedly sent her, and which led to the player's ar- rest. The internal inquiry was expected to hear how Bogda- novic, arrested on Saturday, 29 October, was released on police bail the following day, Sunday, to allow him to play at 3pm that day. PAC's failure to agree on hospitals deal probe leaves unions disappointed MIRIAM DALLI THE UHM Voice of the Work- ers and the Medical Associa- tion of Malta have expressed disappointment at the failure of members of parliament to agree to probe the hospitals' privatisa- tion deals. "All this opposition only serves to increase concerns among workers and patients and to cast further doubts on the contracts," Martin Balzan said, on behalf of the two unions. "This is yet an- other clear example of how the government hinders a listening process and fails to be transpar- ent." On Monday, the Public Ac- counts Committee met to dis- cuss a request raised by the two unions for the committee to in- vestigate the agreements signed with Vitals Global Healthcare. The unions also requested the PAC to ask the Auditor General to analyse the contracts. But government MPs said that PN MP Claudette Buttigieg had already requested the parliamen- tary health committee – chaired by Labour MP Etienne Grech – to investigate the matter and the committee had agreed to do so. Buttigieg told PAC she was ready to withdraw her request in order to allow PAC to lead the scrutiny of the deals. PAC chairman Tonio Fenech at first suggested that the mat- ter should be jointly discussed by the two committees. The government MPs, led by Justice Minister Owen Bonnici, how- ever insisted that the matter should be referred to the health committee. After all, they ar- gued, the health committee was competent enough to study the contracts and health-related matters. With Fenech arguing that the unions had specifically ap- proached PAC, and Bonnici sticking to his guns, a Speaker's ruling was requested. It is now up to Speaker Anglu Farrugia to decide whether the unions' re- quest will be acceded to. Vitals Global Healthcare won a 30-year concession to operate the Gozo General Hospital, Go- zo's only hospital, Karin Grech Hospital and St Luke's. Parliamentary questions on how much the government has paid VGH on services provided so far were not answered. The questions were raised by PN MP Chris Said. Daniel Bogdanovic