I came to know Charles Zammit through my blog on the Malta Independent. He started to comment on the posts, I upload on social media. This is how we became acquainted. From the way Mr.Zammit commented, I soon realized that he was an injured man. He ended up telling me about his plight. What I am writing here is with his authorization and approval. 

Mr. Zammit was a police sergeant (PS 448). He claims to have suffered grave injustices under the Nationalist administration, partly because of his political convictions, but mostly for having been involved in two important police investigations; the murder of Wilfred Cardona and the discovery of fire arms at the Nationalist Headquarters. 

He does not hide his political allegiances. He says, 'my blood is red' - 'demmi aħmar' with reference to his Labour leanings. This is a phrase that the old Labour guard still uses to show its historic affiliation. Today Mr. Zammit declares it with stronger emphasis because Labour, according to him, has forgotten its roots and has been taken over by a number of individuals, who joined the party purely for political convenience.

Today, Mr. Zammit tells me, 'Labour's blood is blue'; referring to those individuals he considers were part of the Nationalist Party and have since become part of the Labour Movement. For Mr. Zammit, these individuals were on the other side of the political fence, while he was enduring injustice.

But what is the relationship between PS448, Wilfred Cardona and the discovery of weapons at the Nationalist headquarters in the early 1980s? He was the police officer involved in the investigation of both cases. To be clear, he did not ask to do so. He was told by his superiors to do so.

On 26 November 1983, Mr. Zammit was called out to be part of the team that searched the Nationalist headquarters, during night time, for weapons. At the time, he was still a police constable, stationed at the police garage, where he worked as a carpenter. It was the system within the force that policemen, who were on duty in particular sections, would  be called to form part of what was called the 'riot squad'. This was independent of the infamous Special Mobile Unit.

Constables chosen to be part of the riot squad were used for special occasions, such as mass meetings and gatherings, that were considered hot. The police considered fiery the mass meetings of the PN in those days. The riot squad was led at the time by Major Mula.

As the police were refused the keys to the premises, it needed carpenters to force open the main door and other locked areas within the PN headquarters.

"With other police officers, I forced the main door and forced open a number of rooms that were locked. Amongst other things, under the main stage in the main hall, the police found sawed-off hunting rifles, batons and steel helmets. In a room on the roof, the police found  different types of Molotov cocktails and an amount of fire bricks. The search was led by Superintendent Carmelo Bonello."

A few months later, Wilfred Cardona was arrested. The police suspected that Mr. Cardona was behind the weapons found on the premises of the Nationalist headquarters. This was the last time Mr. Cardona was seen alive. It is alleged that at the police HQ, he was beaten up and died while being interrogated by the police. Mr. Zammit had nothing to do with this interrogation.

 

For those who may have forgotten, Wilfred Cardona was a PN activist who was found dead at Ta' Qali in 1984. He has been shot in the head. It was a mafia-type execution. His skull had been perforated by seven bullet wounds.

It was after Mr. Cardona's body was discovered that Mr. Zammit entered the scene. The investigation of Wilfred Cardona's death was conducted by Anthony Mifsud Tommasi, who  held the position of Deputy Police Commissioner. Mr. Mifsud Tommasi decided to search Cardona's flat in Floriana and among the officers he took with him was Charles Zammit. In the meantime, Mr. Zammit got promoted to a police sergeant. Mr.Mifsud Tommasi and Mr. Zammit were the first to enter the premises. According to Mr. Zammit the sequence of events was as follows:

"Mr.Mifsud Tomasi opened the front door and we entered. During the search, I was ordered to open a chest of drawers. It was packed with boxes full of bullets and there also was a sheet of paper. It contained a list of names. Mr. Mifsud Tomasi did not give me time to read it. He grabbed the paper."

Mr. Zammit also recalls Mr.Mifsud Tommasi telling him..

"PS, you have seen nothing!" or "PS, int ma rajtxejn!"

Unfortunately, Mr. Mifsud Tommasi has now passed away and therefore, this vital bit of information cannot be corroborated by him. I believe Mr. Zammit. Mr.Zammit carried on recounting that after this episode, Mr. Mifsud Tommasi ordered him to leave the premises and was sent to guard a small room- at ground floor level -  being  used as a garage, which was situated in the vicinity.PS448 was to stand outside and not allow anybody enter. What Mr. Zammit remembers is that its door was situated under a balcony. "On giving a quick glance inside the room, where I stayed at the door for two hours, I saw sealed boxes that seemed to have been packed with various electronic apparata. On their outer packaging, they had printed images of portable radios". In those days, one needed a special licencse to import and even own a radio. 

Till today, the PN continues to deny having had anything to do with these weapons. The PN insists that it has been victim of a frame-up. I will not go into the merit of whether the PN was the victim of a frame-up or not. What is important here is that once the Nationalists were elected in 1987, Mr. Zammit undoubtedly became,in turn, the victim of a frame-up.

He started to be hounded within the Corps. He is convinced that that this persecution is related to the fact that he was the officer involved in the investigation of Mr.Wilfred Cardona's murder and was part of the team that conducted the search for weapons at the PN's headquarters. There were police officers who were not happy with Mr. Zammit, as they believed that he might know too much about them.

Furthermore, Mr. Zammit is certain that there were individuals who had every interest to discredit his testimony and make him appear an unreliable witness. This campaign was deliberate and calculated so that had he divulged what he knew, he would not be considered a credible witness.

His non-voluntary participation in these two searches made him an easy target during the PN administration. Mr. Zammit insists that the police, during the Nationalist administration, had also tampered with a statement and attributed facts to him that he had never made. Mr. Zammit is ready to substantiate this.

Meanwhile, he is now a pensioner and does not have sufficient means to start a lawsuit against government. 'I can tell you, with the support of documentation, the hell that I went through from 1987 till today'. Mr. Zammit is even hurt because after Labour went into came to government in 2013, he is still awaiting justice. The current administration does not want to listen to his pleas.

This is why I have taken up his cause by starting a campaign on Facebook and provoking a debate about civil law suits. Mr. Zammit does not have the means to open a civil case and according to the means test used for granting legal aid, he does not even qualify for such help.  I am sure that, today, certain categories of pensioners do not have sufficient revenue to start a civil case, in particular, when it is one against government.

What I can add is that in his  plea for justice,  Mr. Zammit, has found help  from a former Nationalist party candidate, Joe Ellis. Dr. Ellis had accepted to take up the gauntlet and start legal proceedings so that justice can finally be done.  Even though I may not always agree with Dr. Ellis on points of political ideology, I can only express my admiration for the man who has come to the rescue of an individual who has been wronged by the state.

The irony of it all is that an old Labour guard is now being helped by an ex-PN candidate. This is a sign of the changing times Malta is experiencing at the moment.