In an open letter to the Prime Minister published in today’s issue (see page 25), Joseph Ellul-Grech, the person falsely accused in 1999 by Malta’s current European Commissioner John Dalli of authoring a defamatory letter sent to a 20,000-strong mailing list, has requested the government to open a long-overdue investigation into the case.

Mr Ellul-Grech was acquitted by the courts in 2003 of the charges levelled against him by Mr Dalli following a criminal investigation that lasted nearly four years.

“His accusations caused untold harm to my family and myself,” Mr Ellul-Grech writes, “to the point that we had to return to the UK because it became impossible for me to find employment due to the character assassination that was perpetrated against me.”

Mr Ellul-Grech is now seeking an investigation to establish who was, in actual fact, behind the letters – answers which are still pending despite vows that the perpetrators would be uncovered.

With reference to recent reports of Mr Dalli having asked the Prime Minister to institute an investigation into those responsible for orchestrating his “political assassination” in 2004, Mr Ellul-Grech writes, “… EU Commissioner John Dalli asked you to conduct an investigation into the false accusations made against him. In his case the person responsible [Joe Zahra] has been convicted and punished accordingly.

“It is ironic that Commissioner Dalli made a big fuss about a case that has been solved and not [about] the anonymous letters case. This was far more serious and involved many people. However, I was the only person to have criminal charges brought against me by John Dalli and the police.

“I consider it a human right for my family and myself to find out who were the people responsible for such a serious and pathetic crime.

At the time Commissioner Dalli, as a minister, made a public pledge that the people responsible would be caught no matter the cost or the time it may take. The case was never solved and I am legally entitled to have the case reopened and investigated accordingly.

“As a Maltese citizen and according to our Constitution and laws, all citizens are considered to be equal in the eyes of the law. I therefore request that you start an independent, judicial and impartial investigation into the case.”

Mr Ellul-Grech, who has pledged his full cooperation should such an investigation be opened, was an accountant for the local importers of Daewoo cars, while Mr Dalli had once served as a consultant to the company.

In November 1999, Mr Dalli had lodged a police report against Mr Ellul-Grech in connection with the 20,000 anonymous letters, which had contained forged bank statements from an overseas bank account in Mr Dalli’s name.

The letters were distributed to the press and thousands of individuals and included a bogus copy of a bank statement dated 1994, as well as press reports on the then minister’s declaration of assets. The anonymous letter alleged Mr Dalli had failed to declare assets he held in an overseas bank account.

In 2003, a court, presided over by Magistrate Antonio Micallef Trigona, had found Mr Ellul-Grech not guilty of the charges.