Former European Commissioner John Dalli has filed criminal and civil libel suits against The Times of Malta over what he said was a “malicious report” published today with the title “No suspension for Gatt and Dalli over Swiss accounts”.

In a statement, Mr Dalli said that with “their malicious reporting that has been going on for years”, The Times included him in the Swissleaks story by giving the impression that he was part of a list of people having such an account.

He also urged the government to get a copy of the list of Maltese account holders in Swiss banks to avoid blackmail and manipulation as happened in this case.