Former TV presenter Norman Vella insists that he was arrested by the police yesterday, unlike what Prime Minister Joseph Muscat said this morning.

Dr Muscat said that Mr Vella had been held for questioning and had not been arrested, but Mr Vella said that when he was stopped by the police he had been read his Miranda Rights, by which he was told that anything he said could have been used against him.

He said he was also given the opportunity to make one phone call and call a lawyer to assist him, a right he exercised.

“I was held for four hours. My mobile phone was confiscated and I was searched. What do you call that?” Mr Vella said.

In another development, Mr Vella filed a court application requesting that his mobile phone and tablet, which were confiscated by the police, are returned to him. In the application, signed by Dr Karol Aquilina and Dr Therese Comodini Cachia, Mr Vella said that the two items were withheld abusively and illegally by the police.

In the court application, Mr Vella once again denied taking photos of OPM communications chief Kurt Farrugia and Home Affairs communications coordinator Ramona Attard. 

Mr Vella said he was on duty as an Immigration Officer at the MIA working on the 7am - 7pm shift. He said he was arrested and interrogated at 6.30pm. 

The application contiued that he collborated with the police and gave inspector Silvio Magro immediate access to check the phone's photographic data which shows that no photos were taken. 

Nontheless, his Samsung phone and tablet were confiscated. 

He insisted in the application that the alleged taking of photos does not constitute a crime over which an investigation and arrest can take place. 

The mobile and tablet contain personal information which is private, on Mr Vella, his family and third parties, which has nothing to do with the case. 

http://www.independent.com.mt/articles/2013-10-28/news/pm-refuses-to-comment-on-police-investigation-on-norman-vella-3017113601/