An Inspector today recounted in court how the partner of former Labour minister Joe Grima made false allegations about him and intimidated him in front of several people as he responded to an attempted burglary report she had filed.
Inspector Jason Francis Sultana was giving evidence in the case instituted against Dr Lynn Zahra, who is charged with slandering him.
Inspector Sultana said he and some colleagues were responding to a car fire when a report came in from Dr Zahra, claiming that three men had tried to enter her Sliema apartment. He claimed that when she came out of the apartment and saw him she started repeating false allegations about him, claiming that he had illicitly recorded a conversation they had at the Sliema police station and handed it over to blogger and columnist Daphne Caruana Galizia. The inspector said she was shouting in a “loud, aggressive and intimidating voice” in front of the people passing by.
“She also said she would speak to the Police Commissioner and that, if he did nothing about it, she would go to the Prime Minister. I felt intimidated by her words,” the Inspector continued. “She also insisted that the story would not end there,” he told Magistrate Josette Demicoli.
Two police officers who were also on the scene corroborated the inspector’s version in court but Dr Zahra shouted out that one of them had not been present on the scene.
The police Internal Affairs unit had already investigated Dr Zahra’s claim and dismissed it, having found no proof to support her claims. Mrs Caruana Galizia also denies having obtained a recording from Inspector Sultana.
The inspector said that Dr Zahra was not satisfied with the outcome of that investigation and had challenged the police commissioner and the Attorney General to initiate criminal proceedings against him. Inspector Sultana had subsequently filed a complaint with the Committee for Advocates of the Commission for the Administration of Justice.
Inspector Ramon Mercieca, from the Internal Affairs Unit, said Dr Zahra’s allegations had been looked into but she had presented no proof that the Inspector had recorded the conversation.
The case continues on 19 October.