John Dalli Profile - A Story of Resilience

15 October 2024

John Dalli

Politician, Consultant, Publisher

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Profile - A Story of Resilience

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Index

John Dalli

Profile

A Story of Resilience

Prologue

Guiding values

EU fraud, conspiracy and persecution

The Rancorous Callous Cabal

Fabrications

Continued Deception

Profile

Early days

Education

Malta College of Arts Science & Technology

Work Experience in Private Sector

Malta Drydocks

Blue Bell

Corinthia Group

Politics

Nationalist Party

Nationalist Party Structures

Executive

Malta Government

Ministerial Career

Creator of the new Malta Economic Order

Minister for Economy

Minister of Finance

Shadow Minister of Finance

Oct 1996 - Sep 1998 – (1 year 11 months)

Minister of Finance and Economy

Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Trade

Joint Commission between Malta and Libya

Joint Chairman

Malta and Libya

Back in Cabinet

Minister for Social Policy

EU Commission

Health

Consumer Policy

Back in the Public Domain

Tabor Consult Limited

Fighting Woke

Managing Editor

Resilience

The First Attack – from his own party

Barrosogate

European Commission

Jun 2011 – Oct 2012

Brussels

The setup

Billions of Euros in play

The Tobacco Lobby on Floor 13 of the Berlaymont.

An irregular investigation based on fraudulent assessment.

Disruption by the Commission Officials

A Convergence in Malta

Barroso’s hatchet job

A connived conclusion that defies the evidence.

A fraudulent report - amateurish and biased.

A déjà vu of the first fraud by Gonzi

The Conspiratorial Meeting

OLAF Condemned

A chorus of criticism

Report of the Supervisory Committee

OLAF condemned by the European Parliament

Legal Action

Barroso’s perjury

Defamation Case

The EU Commission trashes the rule of law

Immunity for OLAF -? obstructing Dalli from defending his reputation

No proof against Dalli

An attack on Dalli’s family

May 2015 - July 2020 (5 years 3 months)

Malta

Kessler terminated from OLAF

Fired by the New Italian Government

Kessler’s last vendetta

Kessler Criminally convicted

The fraud continues in Malta.

Action to Cover up and support Kessler

A muddled case mired in illegality.

Immunity !!!? No thank you

The Prosecution on Holiday

Perjury

Criminal Procrastination

A call for justice

Truth will prevail

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Prologue

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Guiding values

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John Dalli says:? “In my working life, I always strived to give the best of myself, concentrating on my work, setting innovative objectives, and working hard to achieve them. I did not have family ties or university confreres to boost my career. I never planned a career. Never connived, never backstabbed, or conspired. I was always loyal to my superiors and my peers. Above all I was loyal to the people I was responsible for. I strived to deliver, and I was moved up the authority scale by my superiors, who appreciated my capabilities and the results I achieved.

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“As I entered politics, I operated on the same principles. I was never part of any clique. My methods were sometimes unorthodox, but they were effective. I managed to implement root and branch reforms in all economic sectors and start new sectors in the industrial, commercial, financial, and regulatory areas. I endeavoured to instil discipline, transparency, and integrity in the entities and dependents under my responsibility. In developing my country’s economy, I ensured robust wealth creation by a free, regulated private sector and its fair distribution.

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“This gave me great satisfaction and earned me the respect of the people in whose interest I worked relentlessly. This did not go well with the opposition who saw their term in opposition lengthening. Neither did it go well with some of the cliques in my party who perceived me as a threat to their ambition to gain control of the party and run it without any control."

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EU fraud, conspiracy and persecution

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John Dalli continues “As a European Commissioner I reactivated debates that were dormant for more than a decade. I worked assiduously to introduce a Tobacco Product Directive (TPD). By the end of February 2012, I finalised with SANCO the parameters of the TPD to send to the Impact Assessment Board and start the process for its implementation.

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At the time Swedish Match (SM), a SNUS manufacturer whose product was banned from the European Market, had started the process to sell the company to Philip Morris (PM).? The lifting of the marketing ban would have meant billions of Euros to them.? They joined forces with the Commission officials who kept disrupting the progress of the directive. ?The president and secretary general tried to stop me.? They connived and contrived with their very good friend; the previous DG Legal services turned tobacco lobbyist Michel Petit.? The Malta politicians who had been trying to destroy me for years joined the plot.

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SM invented allegations against me with the help of Petit who discussed them with Day.? A complaint was sent to Day who delivered it to Barroso.? Giovanni Kessler, DG OLAF was called to Barroso’s office, given the complaint and instructed to start a fast and confidential investigation.? Eager to please, Kessler took over the investigation himself and led an illegal and fraudulent investigation charge.? Their report admits that the evidence showed that the allegations were false and that I acted properly.? But as they had to give an excuse to the President to terminate me and disrupt the directive, they concocted an absurd conclusion based on circumstantial evidence.

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The Commission did not allow the Belgian investigators to interrogate Kessler and his team. They granted them immunity to ensure that the truth is hidden and that their involvement in the fraud is not exposed.? On a crack in this immunity, Kessler was condemned for being a liar and irresponsible both in the first instance and in the appeal of the criminal courts.

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In the meantime, DG OLAF persisted with media campaigns and further investigations against me.

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The Rancorous Callous Cabal

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For the past two decades, Malta saw the emergence of a cabal within the Nationalist Party.? They started by focusing on manipulating the democratic processes of the party to ensure that the decision-making and voting positions were occupied by the people they controlled. They built a network of contacts in European organisations and some member states.? They extended their control on the local media and their influence in the Courts and even the Archbishop’s Curia.? Dalli was their major target, considered to be the biggest threat to their ambition.? They embarked on an apartheid policy to get those who they thought supported him out of the party.

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They used the perverse media mercenary who was the spearhead in their attacks on their victims.? John Dalli was one of her main targets, the subject of pejorative, insulting and offensive defamatory diatribes for over fifteen years.?

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When the leadership contest in the Nationalist Party came along, they positioned their people in the voting college and launched a ferocious defamatory crusade against Dalli.? They crowned their man as leader.? And took over the Party.

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Within two months after that, they launched a derogatory media campaign against Dalli. ?One of their henchmen gave the new Prime Minister a fake report which he kept to his chest, coercing Dalli to resign from Cabinet.? When given the report, the police investigated the matter, and the author of the report confessed that it was a false report.? He was sentenced to two years in prison. The Commissioner of Police, John Rizzo, stopped the investigators from probing who was behind this fraud.?

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The attack continued and intensified as Dalli moved into the Commission.? After his termination, the cabal coordinated an attack to demonise him and to give credibility to Barroso and Kessler.? Then Dalli started receiving emails with attempts to blackmail and also death threats. ?He sent all the details to the police in Malta.? He never received any feedback.?

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Fabrications

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The Cabal in Brussels and Malta thrives on fabricated information and on instigating perjured evidence. Silvio Zammit was reported saying that a lawyer close to the cabal was sent to offer him a presidential pardon if he implicated John Dalli in the Tobacco Conspiracy.? He refused to lie.

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Johan Gabrielsson, the tobacco lobbyist who was advised by OLAF and the Malta Police to keep repeating a story that they knew was false, insisted with OLAF and on various occasions that he believed the money mentioned in the false meeting was meant for Dalli.? This was the main false allegation against Dalli. Kessler could not substantiate this falsehood even after fabricating the transcript of a telephone call between Zammit and a tobacco lobbyist.? Kessler went as far as to organise an illegal recording to harass and bully Zammit to make him mention Dalli’s name.? This also failed and this criminal act was the basis on which Kessler was criminally convicted for being a liar and irresponsible.

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John Rizzo, the previous Commissioner of Police who colluded with the Cabal perjured himself in testifying in this case and made an incoherent attempt to say that Silvio Zammit acted on my behalf.

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Daphne Caruana Galizia, one of the cabal, had invented this calumny in a documentary part financed by the EU Commission and produced by a Danish production company, Sonntag, in March 2017.

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Continued Deception

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Since the corrupt and suborned Maltese Media had distorted and suppressed Kessler’s criminal conviction after maligning Dalli for 12 years, Dalli held a press conference to inform the public. Within hours Zammit’s son, Zack, posted on his Facebook page that his late father had told him that he was acting on Dalli’s behalf.? This was an umpteenth attempt to support the Kessler’s paranoic obsession.

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Immediately after this post appeared on the site, it was reported by the mercenaries Matthew Vella and Jacob Borg. who were the only members of the media present for the press conference, whose report was the basis on which Zack’s post was made? ?They did not report Dalli’s reply to Zack which reminded him that his father was offered a Presidential Pardon if he says that Dalli was involved.? Silvio Zammit told the messenger delivering this offer to him that he will never lie and refused the offer. ?This post was another malicious attempt to block information about the corrupt harassment and defamation that they had been regurgitating for years and which has been exposed by the sentence of the Belgian courts.

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This was indeed a cruel exploitation of Zack Zammit.? Whoever instigated Zack to post this comment, knew that this would put Zack in the unenviable position of condemning his own father of perjury and prevarication.? On many occasions, Silvio Zammit is reported to have declared unequivocally that John Dalli was not involved.? As was confirmed by the evidence in the report by OLAF. ?

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Profile

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Early days

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John Dalli was born on October 5, 1948, being the eldest among the five children of Carmel and Emma Dalli. He went through the public education system in Malta where he started to pursue his accountancy degree which he completed by correspondence with an institution in the United Kingdom In 1973, he became a Fellow of the Certified Chartered Accountants of the UK.

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Education

(September 1967 - December 1969)

Malta College of Arts Science & Technology

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John Dalli went through the public education system in Malta.? He pursued his accountancy degree at the Malta College of Arts, Science, and Technology (MCAST) and completed it by correspondence with a specialised institution in the United Kingdom?? In 1973, John Dalli became a Fellow of the Certified Chartered Accountants of the UK.? He is a member of both the Malta Institute of Accountants and the Chartered Management Institute.

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Work Experience in Private Sector

October 1966 - November 1980 (14 years 2 months)

Malta and Belgium

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Malta Drydocks

October 1966 - September 1969 (2 years 11 months)

Malta

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John Dalli started his work experience at the Malta Drydocks where he joined as a commercial apprentice, working in the administration departments of the company and studying on a part-time basis for his accountancy qualification. The Malta drydocks was a highly politicised environment and served as the initiation to politics as experienced by the citizens.

After two years at the Malta Drydocks, John Dalli joined an advertising agency as their accountant.

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Blue Bell

December 1969 – November 1980 (10 years 11 months)

Malta & Brussels

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In December 1969, after one year with the advertising agency, he was chosen to serve as a junior accountant at Blue Bell Malta Limited, a subsidiary of an American Company that was the largest textile factory in Malta at the time contributing 25% of Malta's exports.

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At the youthful age of 24, he was appointed Financial Controller at Blue Bell Malta Limited, which contributed 25% of Malta's exports. Five years later, in 1977, he relocated to the company's head office in Brussels entrusted with the establishment of an international trading company. The management of the European Head office of the company handpicked him to develop a comprehensive computerised management information system covering the total process in the 25 manufacturing and sales subsidiaries, from the sourcing of raw materials to the balance sheet. He started on this project by putting together an international team of IT specialists which he directed and managed.

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In 1979 he returned to Malta with the company and in 1981 resigned from the company to contest the elections in Malta.

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Corinthia Group

November 1996 - May 1998 (1 year 7 months)

Malta

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During this period John Dalli reviewed the international operations of the company.? It was the time when the Soviet Union was disintegrating.? John Dalli led the Company to assess the opportunities for investment in the East European countries.? Dalli negotiated the acquisition of a group of hotels in Hungary and St Petersburg.

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Politics

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Nationalist Party

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Nationalist Party Structures

Executive

October 1971 - May 1986 (14 years 8 months)

Malta

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John Dalli started to be involved in politics in Malta in 1971 when he joined the Nationalist Party youth movement. He helped to organise the movement at the grassroots and served in its executive committee until he left for Brussels in 1977. During this time, he represented the Movement in the National Executive Committee of the Party.

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When he returned to Malta in 1979, he was asked to head the Nationalist Party’s propaganda office in preparation for the election of 1981. John Dalli prepared the Party’s plan for the economic revival of Malta and organised the marketing aspects of the election campaign. In the elections of 1981, he contested for the first time but was not successful.

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Although in 1981 the Nationalist Party obtained 51% of the popular vote it was denied a majority in Parliament because of gerrymandering in the electoral system. The harshest five years in Malta’s political history followed.

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In these darkest days, John Dalli dedicated himself to the Nationalist Party.

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He abandoned his consultancy and dedicated himself to organising the party. He organised the printing and publishing sector of the party and the financial structures of the party. He also introduced computers to the Maltese Political Scene. He developed programmes that would create voter databases. This helped to facilitate access to these voters and to control the electoral process against abuse.

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During this time, John Dalli got his taste of political harassment. In 1984, when he served as one of the main officials of the Nationalist Party, on two consecutive attacks one week apart from each other, there was an attempted arson at his residence, and thugs went to his home asking for money and terrified his wife who was with her baby.

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Malta Government

Mar 1987 – Feb 2010 (11 years 5 months)

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Ministerial Career

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In 1987 he again contested the elections and this time he was elected. Since then, he was re-elected five other successive times –1992, 1996, 1998, 2003 and 2008.? He was given ministerial responsibilities from the start

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May 1987 ?- Apr 1990 - Junior Minister for Industry

He dismantled the many import controls and exchange controls to liberalise the economy.

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May 1990 ?– Feb 1992 - Minister for Economic Services

Mar 1992 ?– Oct 1996 - Minister of Finance

Oct 1996 ?- Sep 1998 - Shadow Minister of Finance

Sep1998 ?– Mar 2004 - Minister of Finance and Economy

Apr 2004 ?– July 2004 - Minister for Foreign Affairs and Investment Promotion

July 2004 ?- Mar 2008 - Member of Parliament (after first fraud against him)

Mar 2008 ?– Feb 2010 - Minister for Social Policy

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Creator of the new Malta Economic Order

May 1987 - Apr 2004 (16 years 11 months)

Malta

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His experience in the private sector where he worked in high-level management positions in Malta and abroad, both in industry and as a consultant helped him to implement the root and branch reforms that were needed in Malta to reform and restructure it, transforming it from a stagnant, centralised system to a vibrant social market economy.

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In the period 1987 to 2004 when, as a cabinet minister, he was responsible for the economy and, from 1993 onward also for finance, John Dalli changed the economy of the country's controlled economy to one of free trade with a social conscience.

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The Maltese economy came in line with the acquis communautaire enabling Malta to accede to the European Union. Today Malta is reaping the benefit of the work done by John Dalli during this period. Some of the initiatives that he implemented are:

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Under his direction, Malta saw the winding down of several public-sector companies, a vast privatisation programme, the end of restrictive trade practices and the removal of exchange control.

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He changed the nature of the industrial sector in Malta from one dependent on the textile sector (and low wages) to one with a greater added value that brought investment, employment and better wages and conditions for workers.? Thousands of new jobs in higher-level activities in the manufacturing sector were created.

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John Dalli created and developed the Financial Services Center.? A services industry was created through the setting up of the Malta Freeport, the creation of a new Financial Services Industry and the launch of E-Commerce activities.

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At the same time public sector activity in the economy was greatly reduced.

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During his long tenure as Minister of Finance (the longest in Maltese political history) John Dalli is best remembered for his modernisation of the taxation system, especially the simplification of the income tax regime and with the introduction of VAT in 1994 and again in 1998 and for his initiatives to curtail tax evasion.

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Minister for Economy

May 1990 - Feb 1992 (1 year 9 months) Malta

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Changed the nature of the industrial sector in Malta from one dependent on the textile sector (and low wages) to one with a greater added value that brought investment, employment and better wages and conditions for workers.? Wound down about 200 parastatal companies that were a weight on the country

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Set up the Malta Freeport.

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Minister of Finance

Mar 1992 - October 1996 (4 years 6 months)

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Introduced VAT.? Set up a Tax Compliance Unit to ensure tax compliance.

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He created and developed the Financial Services Center. A strong and respected regime which is the envy of many countries, and on which were created other sectors such as e-commerce and e-Gaming.? At the same time, financial regulation was strengthened and streamlined.

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Shadow Minister of Finance

Oct 1996 - Sep 1998 – (1 year 11 months)

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John Dalli resisted the elimination of VAT and its change with CET.? This was an attempt to sabotage Malta’s application to join the European Union.

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Minister of Finance and Economy

October 1998 - March 2004 (4 years 6 months)

Malta

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Immediately on taking over this ministry, he reintroduced VAT.? Those who had previously vociferously opposed the introduction of VAT were relieved to have VAT reintroduced.?

He was entrusted by Prime Minister Fenech Adami to preside on the final negotiations for the closure of the Malta Drydocks and Shipbuilding Company.?

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Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Trade

April 2004 - July 2004 (4 months)

Malta

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During his brief tenure at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, John Dalli’s endeavours underscored his commitment to positioning Malta strategically laying the groundwork for it to emerge as a formidable player in the European Mediterranean policy arena. He worked intensely to position Malta as a relevant interlocutor in Mediterranean affairs.

In June 2004, he met with Colin Powell, the then US Secretary of State and bilateral and multilateral issues, with a focus on the evolving dynamics in the Mediterranean region in the context of the fact that? Libya was undergoing a reassessment of its relationship with the West.

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Joint Commission between Malta and Libya

Joint Chairman

May 1987 - Apr 2004 (16 years 11 months)

Malta and Libya

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After the formation of the Nationalist Government in 1987 Mr. Dalli was appointed as co-Chairman of the Libyan Maltese Joint Commission. He continued in this function until 2004 when he resigned from the Cabinet.? Except for the months when the Nationalist Party went into opposition.

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During this time, John Dalli, together with the various co-chairmen from the Libya side, ensured the smooth development of the relationship between Malta and Libya. This period covered the difficult times of the sanctions imposed by the UN on Libya.

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The trust of his activity while co-chairing the joint commission between Libya and Malta was to review all the bilateral agreements between the two countries and bring them in line with the acquis communautaire of the European Union.

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In 2011, amid the Libyan uprising, John Dalli drew on his extensive experience with Libya and its cultural nuances to offer prescient warnings about the protracted and intricate nature of the unfolding events.? This resulted in a confrontation with the President of the Commission.? These insights were, at the time, subject to intentional misinterpretation.? Today, the aftermath of the Libyan crisis continues to pose challenges for the European Union and continues to cause hundreds of deaths.? John Dalli was right.?

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On 28 February 2004, John Dalli contested the election for the leadership of the Nationalist Party but was unsuccessful.? Lawrence Gonzi was elected leader and appointed Prime Minister.

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Back in Cabinet

November 2008 - February 2010 (1 year 4 months)

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John Dalli insisted on contesting an electoral district which he had never contested before, and where there was massive discontent against the Party.? This strategy won the 2008 election for the Nationalist Party.

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After refusing a “position” in the tourism sector, which was offered to him by Gonzi, he was appointed Minister for Social Policy.

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Minister for Social Policy

Oct 2008 - Feb 2010

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As the Minister for Social Policy, John Dalli assumed a significant and far-reaching role, overseeing a diverse portfolio that included Pensions, Social Welfare, Housing, Employment and Training, Labour Relations, Health, and the Care of the Elderly.

Within a mere two months, he announced a groundbreaking reform in Malta's rent laws, a long-debated issue that had eluded resolution for decades.? Simultaneously, he embarked on a crucial reform in the Health sector, pledging the introduction of health insurance and other measures aimed at ensuring the sustainability of the healthcare system.? Additionally, John Dalli spearheaded significant reforms in the Pension System, showcasing his proactive approach to addressing critical social and economic challenges in Malta.

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EU Commission

February 2010 - October 2012 (2 years 9 months)

the 10th of February 2010,

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John Dalli was appointed a Member of the College of the European Commission responsible for Health and Consumer Policy.

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Health

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·?????? Health Policy,

·?????? Promotion of Disease prevention,

·?????? Action against Chronic Diseases

o?? Cancer,

o?? Cardiovascular,

o?? Pulmonary

·?????? Management of Epidemics and Pandemics,

·?????? Food Safety, including certification of imports into the EU

·?????? Animal Health,

·?????? Plant Health,

·?????? Novel Foods including

o?? Genetically Modified Organisms.

o?? Cloning of Animals

·?????? Nanotechnologies,

·?????? Pharmaceutical Industry,

·?????? Medical Devices Industry,

·?????? Cosmetics Industry,

·?????? Leading Innovation Partnership on Healthy Active Aging

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As with his tenure as Maltese Minister, John Dalli has brought an air of innovation and development to his portfolio. A new dimension was given to the Health sector, around the concept of WELLNESS. He reiterates that his vision and mission is to keep people out of hospital beds and he promotes Security, Prevention, Access and Sustainability.

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Consumer Policy

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·?????? Product Safety,

·?????? Information to Consumers including Labelling and verification of Claims

·?????? Monitoring of the efficiency of the European Single Market

·?????? Development of Redress Mechanisms individually and collectively, national and cross-border,

·?????? Education of Consumers on their rights and the information they are given,

·?????? Organisation of Consumer Organisations in all EU Member States,

·?????? Coordination of Consumer Centres in all EU Member States,

·?????? Action against companies that break consumer rights.

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In the Consumer area, Dalli has reinvigorated the thrust towards EMPOWERMENT of the consumers projecting the consumer as an equal partner in the single market. His Consumer Strategy devolves around the SIRE principle (Safety, Information, Rights and Redress, and Enforcement)

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He was developing policies on, amongst other things, Alternative Dispute Resolution, Online Dispute Resolution, Consumer Strategy, Clinical Trials, Animal Testing for Cosmetics, The Innovation Partnership on Aging, A New Tobacco Directive, and Anti-Microbial Resistance.

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Back in the Public Domain

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Tabor Consult Limited

November 2014 - Present (9 years 11 months)

Malta

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After this development, in July 2024, John Dalli reactivated his consultancy company, Tabor Consult Limited. Dalli had kept a low profile for all the 12 years he was involved in this legal battle.

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From a young age, Dalli held management positions in the private sectors encompassing, industry, trade and IT.? Building on his vast political and managerial experience, Mr Dalli activated his Consultancy activity. He practised consultancy on and off in between his various official positions in his career. He strives to assist private and public entities to meet the challenges exploit the opportunities of a changing geo-political environment and assist in the restructuring process. As he did throughout his career, he assists the citizens in grappling with the invasive bureaucracy that is ballooning.

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After the elections in 1981, he set up a company specialising in management advise and in the facilitation of international businesses. This was closed in 1987 when he was appointed a Minister in Malta but was later revived in 2004 when he left this position. He again stopped this activity in March 2008 when he accepted to again form part of the Cabinet of Ministers.

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In 2004, when he left the Cabinet of Ministers in the Malta Government, he revived his consultancy company specialising in management advise and in the facilitation of international businesses. He again stopped this activity in March 2008 when, after the elections in Malta of 2008, he accepted to again form part of the Cabinet of Ministers.

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He returned to consultancy in 2014 after physically recovering from the consequences of the fraud committed against him by the EU Commission and their Maltese accomplices.

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Fighting Woke

Managing Editor

June 2020 - Present (4 years 4 months)

Malta

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Experiencing the deterioration of good governance, democracy, the rule of law and respect for human rights in Europe and in Malta, John Dalli started publishing an online gazette to expose the corruption and hypocrisy of those in or vying for power and in the media that has discarded their mission of information replacing it with fake news intended to misinform and indoctrinate. He interrupted this activity to better focus on resolving the issues caused by the fraud against him by the European Commission Officials.

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After 12 years of legal haggling with the Commission dispensing immunity to the criminals involved in the fraud against him, the head of OLAF was criminally convicted as a liar and irresponsible and found criminally responsible for prejudicing Dalli.? The EU Commission has not taken any action after the sentence of the Belgian Criminal Appeals Court against Kessler.? The corrupt and suborned Maltese media are collectively blocking all information that exposes the years of defamation, fraud, mediatic persecution and attacks in international institutions by politicians and MEPs. Dalli decided to set up an online portal dedicated to empowering European Citizens to get back control of their country and institutions.? This portal will expose the hypocrisy of the European Union institutions that give lip service to the rule of law, where it suits them to attack member states and, at the same time, forsake it.

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The portal should be running soon??????????????????????????????????????????

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Resilience

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Dalli’s success and popularity generated adversaries within his party who saw him as a threat to their ambitions.? Also, amongst people in the opposition party who saw him as the main obstacle in their grab for power.

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John Dalli proved to be a very resilient character, able to withstand all the attacks not only from his local detractors but also from such goliaths as the Tobacco Industry and the EU Commission.

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The First Attack – from his party

Malta Government

April 2004 - November 2008 (4 years 8 months)

Malta

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The first attack came merely three months after unsuccessfully contesting the leadership election. John Dalli was the victim of fraudulent reports in the Maltese press. Gonzi based himself on a calumnious report that he had received from an associate of his henchmen who was offered €2 million by a Dutch Company SIMED that was bidding for a lucrative contract for the equipment of the new Mater Dei Hospital.

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Gonzi never informed Dalli of this report although he told him, during their meetings, that “he could not have a minister under investigation”.? John Dalli resigned from the Cabinet, explicitly citing attacks from members of his own Party.? He retained his seat in Parliament.? This was in April 2004.

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After Dalli's resignation, Gonzi handed the report to the police with the apparent intention of destroying John Dalli.? When the author of the report was questioned by the police, he confessed that his report was a fraud.? He was arraigned in court.? The then Commissioner of Police John Rizzo stopped the investigators from discovering who was behind this fraud.? This would have led to the Prime Minister’s office.? In November 2006, the report's author was found guilty and sentenced to two years in prison, a verdict upheld by the Court of Appeal in Malta in September 2010.? Contrary to normal practice, Gonzi did not recall John Dalli to the cabinet after the police exonerated him.

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In November 2007, when the General Elections in Malta were a few months away, the then Prime Minister Gonzi and John Dalli called a joint press conference in which Gonzi declared that the allegations levelled against John Dallli were all found to be groundless.

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Notwithstanding this character assassination, in 2008 Dalli contested the election with the Nationalist Party in an electoral district which he had never contested before but where the Party was bleeding an avalanche of votes. He managed to recover enough votes to give the Party its electoral victory.

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Barrosogate

European Commission

Jun 2011 – Oct 2012

Brussels

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During his tenure as a Commissioner in the EU, John Dalli proved that he is not one to be swayed by the high officials sitting on the 13 Floor of the Berlaymont or by criticism in partisan media and interested parties.?

He challenged the President of the Commission and the European Leaders about their handling of Libya during the Rainbow Revolution.? The tragic aftermath still unfolding today proves him right.

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One of the dossiers in Dalli’s responsibilities as the EU Commissioner of Health was the revision of the Tobacco Products Directive (TPD).? Dalli worked assiduously with SANCO and developed the parameters of a strong directive aiming at reducing tobacco consumption and improving the health of European citizens.

During a routine meeting that Dalli had with the President of the Commission, Barroso advised Dalli to stop this initiative, but Dalli stood firm declaring that his loyalty is towards the European Citizens.? This drew immediate opposition from a coalition consisting of EU Commission officials and influential tobacco lobbyists using Snus producer Swedish Match which at the time was pursuing a process of merger with Philip Morris.

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The setup

Oct 2011 – Oct 2012 (one year)

Brussels

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The tobacco lobby assembled a team that included individuals associated with the European Council.? A Swedish Prosecutor was seconded to the European Anti-Fraud Office (OLAF) and was an integral part of the investigation team, participating in interrogations, and being the depository of documents obtained during the investigation. Dalli’s Maltese adversaries were roped in.? They identified a Maltese individual, Silvio Zammit, who was very active in the same Party as Dalli and who was one of the many people who assisted Dalli in his last election campaign.? He was known to Swedish Match as he was requesting their assistance to import Snus into Malta to sell to the Swedish people employed in the Gaming Industry in Malta.?

Zammit was invited for lunch in Stockholm when the conversation shifted towards snus and its marketing ban in Europe.? Following the dinner, the Tobacco Lobby persistently requested Zammit to organise a meeting between John Dalli and themselves to remove the EU export ban on snus.? They kept asking him how much he would charge for that.? Despite these efforts, no such meeting was ever arranged.

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Giovanni Kessler, DG OLAF took over to lead the investigation.? Basing himself on the allegations of Swedish Match he must have thought that accommodating Barroso and incriminating Dalli would be a fast easy matter.

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Billions of Euros in play

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At the time, a SNUS manufacturer whose product was banned from the European Market,? the lifting of the marketing ban would have meant billions of Euros to them.?

At the time when Barroso ordered the investigation, Swedish Match (SM) had started a gradual marketing cooperation with Philip Morris.? The intention was for Philip Morris to take over Swedish Match, a process that was finalised in November 2023 for 16 billion US dollars.? Both wanted to liberalise the market for SNUS which meant billions to them in the takeover price and in the payback calculation. My steadfast position interfered with their plans.? BIG MONEY WAS INVOLVED, DEPENDING ON A LIBERALISED TOBACCO MARKET.

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The Tobacco Lobby on Floor 13 of the Berlaymont.

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The president and secretary general of the Commission maintained contact with Michel Petite, who until January 2008 was the DG of Legal Services of the Commission.?

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Within days of leaving the Commission, Mr Petite joined Clifford Chance and became a major lobbyist for Philip Morris.? In a perceptibly illogical move, in 2009 Barroso appointed Petite, as the chairman of the ad-hoc ethics committee, responsible for monitoring the revolving door policy which he violated brazenly. In this position Petite had direct access to the 13th floor of the Berlaymont and therefore to Barroso, Day, the DG Legal Services, and their assistants.

Using the services of tobacco lobbyist Michel Petite, Swedish Match manufacturers of SNUS formulated a complaint against John Dalli.? Michel Petite discussed this with Catherine Day, Secretary General of the EU Commission and later the complaint was forwarded by Swedish Match to Catherine Day. Catherine Day claims she received the complaint one week after it was sent to her.

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An irregular investigation based on fraudulent assessment.

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Barroso ordered Mr. Giovanni Kessler, DG OLAF to his office and instructed him to launch an investigation into the allegations received from Swedish Match.

On assuming direct control of the investigation Kessler gave the Internal Security and Investigations Unit (ISRU) a few hours to assess the allegations he was given by Barroso and get “independent” advice on whether there is scope for an investigation.? He criminally deceived them on the source of the allegations saying they originated from the commission when the source was Swedish Match, hiding the extreme conflict of interest that existed.

The investigation unfolded amidst widespread violations of laws, policies, and regulations, demonstrating a total disregard for the rule of law and human rights. OLAF always refused to inform Dalli what were the allegations from Swedish Match.? The investigation which was later conducted by the Belgian Police on a complaint by Dalli exposed a lot of information which OLAF had hidden from Dalli.? The police allowed Dalli to copy the investigation file.? All allegations were proved false by OLAF itself.

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OLAF’s misconduct came to light through revelations by the OLAF Supervisory Committee and the Budgetary Control Committee of the European Parliament, exposing the unlawful practices employed during the investigation process.

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Disruption by the Commission Officials

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The Secretary General of the Commission and Barroso’s cabinet made repeated attempts to undermine the directive.? They stopped its progress time and time again through the interservice consultation and harassed SANCO to revise its parameters and soften them, especially with regard to smokeless tobacco.?

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On July 25, the day after OLAF told the Secretariate General that they would not have the report before the holidays, the Secretary-General and the DG Legal Service wrote to SANCO instructing them to stop the process of presenting the directive to the interservice consultation.? (see the box below with comments by Dalli in red.)

Catherine Day and DG Legal Services wrote to MS TESTORI COGGI DIRECTOR

GENERAL OF DG SANCO (Ref. Ares(2012)906255 - 25/07/201) in which they questioned the acceptability of the legal basis proposed in the preferred options by SANCO, as Barroso had done when he met Dalli on November 8, 2011.? The influence of Michel Petite is evident? They also expressed “serious concerns about the proportionality (absence of analysis of the possibility to impose less restrictive measures) and subsidiarity issues: how member states can opt-out. To leave the possibility for the tobacco lobby to “persuade” member states to opt out of the TPD rules. This applies particularly to:

- The general ban on smokeless tobacco products, e.g. snus

- The treatment of nicotine-containing products.” e.g. electronic cigarettes

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Der Spiegel magazine, commenting on this communication, declared that it “could easily have been sent by a tobacco industry representative”.

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·?????? On August 22 when SANCO proposed the relaunching of the Interservice Consultation, they were ordered to stop.

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·?????? On September 23, 2012, two days before Johan Gabrielsson, the man engaged by Swedish Match to spearhead the attack on Dalli, signed the fraudulent document of fake statements that he put together with the Swiss Prosecutor seconded to OLAF, Mikael Jaretoft, and which was compiled seven days before.

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Kessler disregarded the evidence presented by Paola Testori, DG of SANCO, who testified that Dalli had remained steadfast in his position on the TPD – to introduce harsher provisions on smokeless tobacco.? This was corroborated by Paola Duarte, the member of Dalli’s cabinet following the TPD file.

Faced with the failure to stop SANCO and Dalli from stopping or weakening the directive, the only recourse for Barroso and Day was to remove John Dalli from his position.

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A Convergence in Malta

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On 5 October 2012, Mr Barroso was in Malta attending a meeting about the Mediterranean.? He was a guest of Maltese Prime Minister Gonzi who had been informed about the investigation which involved Dalli.? During this visit, the cabinet of Mr Barroso phoned OLAF enquiring when would the investigation be concluded.

In less than a week after the meeting, on the 11th of October,? the cabinet of Barroso phoned the cabinet of Commissioner Dalli fixing a meeting between the two for 5 days later.? No agenda was mentioned.

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Barroso’s hatchet job

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Barroso and Dalli met on the 16 October 2012.?

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OLAF authored a report which Barroso alleged was given to him on the day before. Dalli asked him to explain how the meeting had been fixed 5 days before.? Barroso gaped uncomfortably.?

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Barroso told Dalli that the conclusions by OLAF were that Dalli knew about contacts between people from the tobacco lobby and Mr Zammit, a friend of Dalli when money was being requested to change the Tobacco Product Directive to lift the ban on the marketing of SNUS in Europe.? Dalli denied these allegations. Barroso said he was expecting Dalli to tell him that he never communicated with Zammit.? This was ridiculous as Dalli had several telephone communications with Zammit who was keeping him informed of the rebellion within the parliamentary group of their political party which resulted in the Nationalist Government being voted out of office on 10 December 2012.? Barroso knew that Dalli would never lie about this.? The outcome of the meeting was already decided even before Kessler sent the report to Barroso. This was exposed by Johan Gabrielsson in his recorded meeting with MEP Jose Bove who confessed that OLAF phoned Swedish Match telling them that there would be a press conference on the 17th of October and to be prepared.

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Barroso kept reading from a letter which Kessler attached to the report.? Dalli could not refute the statements in that letter as all information was hidden from him.? When, years later, the Belgian Police allowed him to get a copy of the investigation file they had compiled to act on a report that he had lodged, Dalli got a lot of information which show that the statements made in Kessler’s termination letter are a string of lies.

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Dalli asked to be given a copy of the OLAF report, but Barroso refused saying that it was confidential. Dalli asked for 24 hours to consult a lawyer.? Barroso conceded thirty minutes for Dalli to inform his family.?

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Dalli told Barroso to put the motivation of his termination in writing.? Dalli returned to his office and Barroso sent his DG Legal Services with a resignation document.? Dalli did not sign the document.? Barroso called the Maltese Prime Minister to inform him of Dalli’s termination.? The phone call lasted less than 1 minute.? What needed to be said was said during their meeting in Malta on the 5th of October.

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A connived conclusion that defies the evidence.

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The evidence reported by OLAF in? its report revealed that the allegations made by Swedish Match against John Dalli, were false.? Kessler tried to salvage them, but he was unsuccessful. The OLAF report absolved Dalli from any wrongdoing stating that:

·?????? there is no conclusive evidence of the direct participation of Commissioner John Dalli either as the instigator or the mastermind of the operation of requesting money in exchange of political services.

·?????? No money changed hands.

·?????? that the OLAF investigation showed clearly that the European Commission's decision-making process and the position of the Services concerned has not been affected at all by the matters under investigation.

An honest, objective investigator who would have cared about the reputation of the Commission and who respected the rule of law and human rights would have drawn obvious conclusions from this evidence.? John Dalli is beyond reproach.

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But Mr Kessler had been assigned a task by the President of the Commission and despite these clear and exonerating findings he connived a narrative for the President of the Commission, suggesting that Dalli must have known about the scheming behind his back.? Kessler assumed supernatural powers of mind reading as his concoctions were based on a list of telephone logs.? Kessler did not have the content of these telephone calls.

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A fraudulent report - amateurish and biased.

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No wonder the commission and OLAF resisted all calls to publish the report.? Barroso knew that the report that Kessler produced would not hold water.? The Commission consistently rebuffed demands for the publication of the report not just to Dalli but also to the European Parliament and to the media.

When giving evidence in the European General Court, Barroso stated that his decision to terminate Dalli was his contact with Zammit, whom he defined as a tobacco lobbyist.? This is highly hypocritical as Barroso had been having constant contact with Michel Petite, a primary Tobacco Lobbyist, developing the setup on Dalli.? Being evidence in court, this statement amounts to perjury.

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A déjà vu of the first fraud by Gonzi

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The termination of Dalli by Barroso had the same structure as that done by Gonzi 8 years before.

·?????? The investigation was based on a false report by interested parties.

·?????? The investigation was motivated by the need to get rid of Dalli.

·?????? The report accusing Dalli was hidden from him.

·?????? Both Gonzi and Barroso were dumbstruck when confronted by Dalli on statements they made:

o?? Gonzi had said that he could not have a minister under investigation.? When asked by Dalli, he could not explain what investigation he was talking about.

o?? Barroso asserted that he had received the report from Kessler the day before.? He could not explain how he had fixed their meeting 5 days before.

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Following the discussion with Dalli, Barroso promptly phoned Gonzi to relay the decision that Malta's Commissioner in the EU would be terminated.? Remarkably, the call lasted less than one minute, signifying that the discussion between them about Dalli’s termination was done a few days before when on 5 October they were meeting in Malta.?

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The Conspiratorial Meeting

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On November 28, 2012, six weeks after Dalli's termination, a delegation from the Malta Police and the Attorney General attended a meeting in the offices of OLAF in Brussels.? ESTOC and Swedish Match employees, key players in the planned setup, were also participants in the meeting.

As revealed in a legitimate recording of a meeting between the setup official, Swedish Match employee Johann Gabrielsson and MEP Jose Bove which is in the public domain, Mr. Gabrielsson revealed that during this meeting, OLAF and the Malta Police advised him to keep propagating one of the false allegations of Swedish Match and which they knew was false, "not to disrupt the investigation in Malta."

This meeting was a conspiratorial meeting devoid of integrity and transparency, with the sole agenda of organising the sting against Dalli.

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While this conspiring meeting was taking place, Dalli was in a small private clinic in Germany recovering from the trauma of the attack by the Commission.? Going back to Malta Angelo Gafa, the investigation inspector back in 2012, and the Commissioner of Police at the time, John Rizzo were anxious to deliver on their agreement.? Several times over ten years, on every opportunity, they declared that they always intended to arraign John Dalli.? They had all the opportunity to do so when Dalli returned to Malta. At that time there was a change in government in Malta and they lost their political support.? But they still kept pushing Kessler’s agenda.

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OLAF Condemned

October 2012 - November 2019 (7 years 2 months)

EU Commission

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A chorus of criticism

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Dalli had insisted from the outset that the report by OLAF must be published, but the commission always refused. Finally, this report was leaked on the 28th April 2012. Upon its publication, there was a chorus of criticism of this report as many described it as amateurish and biased.

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Report of the Supervisory Committee

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The OLAF Supervisory Committee was set up by the European Parliament to monitor the respect of human rights by OLAF.? It has complained that it was not given time to review the report before its dissemination, as procedures dictate. They issued an opinion about the report on the 11th December 2013 (2/2012). ?This document was also kept under wraps and to this day does not appear on OLAF’s web page.? It was published by Corporate Europe Observatory on the 4th of July 2014 after it was given access through a request for information.

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The Publication of this opinion which is highly critical of the way that OLAF handled the investigation increased the criticism of OLAF and the Commission in the European Parliament, NGO’s and European Media.

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The suppressed disclosure further exposed the lack of transparency and procedural integrity in the investigation by OLAF.

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OLAF condemned by the European Parliament

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The European Parliament has been delving deeply into the matter. President Barroso had been called in front of the Conference of Presidents to account for his actions.? The Director General of OLAF has also been called many times in front of the CONT Committee of the European Parliament. More than 150 questions were sent by the European Parliament to OLAF and to the Commission on 21 November 2011 many of which were unanswered. A set of another 140 questions were sent by the European Parliament to OLAF and the Commission on the 21 May 2013 many of which were also unanswered on the excuse that the case was subject to legal proceedings in Malta. There were many calls in the European Parliament for the resignation of Giovanni Kessler for his mishandling of this investigation. A long list of infringements and illegalities committed during the investigation was compiled.

The Commission (Barroso and Day) kept protecting Kessler.

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Legal Action

13 December 2012 – 19 June 2024 (12 years 6 months)

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Dalli refutes the conclusions of the OLAF report and labelled them a fraud. He instituted legal proceedings in the European General Court.? The Courts were limited in their deliberations by the immunity which the Commission insisted upon.

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When Barroso gave evidence in the EU General Court, he declared that his decision was not based on any allegations against me.? It was a political decision based on my telephone calls to Mr. Zammit.?

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Barroso’s perjury

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The Courts never considered ?the irregularities and illegalities committed by the Commission or the report of the Supervisory Committee. It took Barroso's word that Dalli resigned even if it was shrouded in obvious perjury since he insisted that his decision was based on alleged knowledge of contacts between Zammit and the tobacco lobbyists. This statement is totally hypocritic considering the close friendship of Barroso with Michel Petit and the various unrecorded meetings of Barroso and his cabinet with the tobacco lobbyists.

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Defamation Case

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The EU Commission trashes the rule of law

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Barroso issued a press statement stating that Dalli resigned after the report by OLAF (which Dalli was not informed about) to be in a position to prove his innocence.? Within two hours, the Maltese Prime Minister repeated Barroso’s statement in the Maltese Parliament. Throughout this period, the Commission consistently defended Kessler, ostensibly driven by the need to prevent the exposure of a conspiracy within the Commission that they shielded with a veneer of immunity.?

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Immunity for OLAF -? obstructing Dalli from defending his reputation

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Two months after his termination, on December 13, 2012, John Dalli took legal action to defend his reputation.? He initiated a criminal case for defamation against Swedish Match, the tobacco producer who instigated the allegations against him. This was extended against OLAF.

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The Belgian Police investigated Swedish Match and OLAF. However, the Commission

actively obstructed Dalli from defending his reputation, refusing to permit police interrogation of OLAF staff under the pretext of immunity as they did not want to expose their complicity in this fraud.? Out of the myriads of irregularities and illegalities committed by OLAF and Kessler, there could be no comprehensive scrutiny of OLAF's activities in Dalli's case, except for a singular focus on an illegally recorded telephone call which was orchestrated by Kessler in a failed attempt to salvage Swedish Match's fake allegations. This remained the sole element subject to examination.?

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John Dalli was allowed to copy the 4500-page investigation dossier of the Belgian Police on 22 September 2016.? It contained important information which was hitherto hidden from him.?

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No proof against Dalli

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On June 8, 2013, John Rizzo was replaced by Peter Paul Zammit as Police Commissioner.? Mr Zammit conducted a comprehensive review of Mr. Dalli's case in collaboration with the Attorney General.? Following "a profound discussion," it became evident that there was insufficient evidence to substantiate any accusations against him. This same view was shared by Mr Michael Cassar at the time a Deputy Commissioner of Police who declared as much in a session of a Committee of the Maltese Parliament.

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In a candid interview on German television station WDR, Police Commissioner Peter Paul Zammit expressed his belief that he would have faced removal from office if he had conducted investigations like the EU's anti-fraud agency chief Giovanni Kessler regarding former European Commissioner John Dalli.? He criticised the agency's investigations as being hasty and flawed.? Commissioner Zammit emphasised that legal action based solely on hearsay would be an erroneous approach, stating, "If I were to take people to court because somebody said something, I would be wrong."

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An attack on Dalli’s family

May 2015 - July 2020 (5 years 3 months)

Malta

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In an attempt to allay the criticism of the SNUS report and the frequent requests by the European Parliament for his resignation, Kessler grasped the allegation of a money launderer and launched an investigation to track the money which his report had said never changed hands.

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After a futile attempt to involve John Dalli in unethical behaviour, an attack was launched on John Dalli’s daughters. OLAF, led by Giovanni Kessler, wasted Commission resources in a three-year fishing expedition. OLAF distributed a schizophrenic report and made pressure on the Maltese Authorities to proceed against John Dalli. This did not work. Drawing a blank, OLAF turned on John Dalli’s daughters enlisting, amongst others, the perverse media, and the Malta Police, who are now known to be stooges of the politicians. The Malta police were ordered proceed against John Dalli’s daughters.? After 5 years no evidence has been brought forward.? The Court ordered the prosecution to give a copy of the report to the defence.? When they did, the annexes listed and quoted in the report were not included, in breach of the court order.? After repeated requests, these annexes are still being held hidden.

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The two police officers who had investigated the OLAF allegations were surprised to see Dalli’s daughters in court.

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Kessler terminated from OLAF

October 2018 - April 2019 (7 months)

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The Cont Committee of the European Parliament has repeatedly demanded the removal of Giovanni Kessler.? Barroso and Day resisted and tried to negotiate with him an agreement that would give him a guaranteed position and income.? Finally, with the intervention of the Italian Socialist Government that was in power in Italy, Kessler, who had been a Socialist MP was seconded to lead the customs entity in Italy.? The Commission made it clear that this was a one-off arrangement which would not be repeated.? The Union of European Officials condemned this preferential arrangement.

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Fired by the New Italian Government

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After the elections in Italy, a new government was installed, and they immediately fired Giovanni Kessler as they declared his secondment as a presential one.? The magistrates said it was illegal

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He returned to Brussels in a consultancy post specifically created for him and without any job description

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Kessler’s last vendetta

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A couple of days after the attack on his daughters was leaked to the press, John Dalli received a notice from OLAF that another investigation was opened against him. This was based on a calumnious article concocted by the perverse media mercenary Daphne Caruana Galizia some 18 months before Kessler may have orchestrated this investigation as a parting vendetta against Dalli, forming a planned pincer movement alongside Dalli's Maltese detractors who were collaborating with him.

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He must have fabricated this investigation against John Dalli after his contract as DG OLAF was terminated prematurely by the Commission. The new OLAF management closed this investigation a few weeks later declaring it as without any base in fact. Thus, also discrediting the perverse hate monger Daphne Caruana Galizia

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Kessler Criminally convicted

Oct 2012 – Jun 2024

Brussels

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On 19 June 2024, the Brussels Court of Appeal (14th Chamber Correctional Matters) confirmed the criminal conviction of Giovanni Kessler. DG OLAF, Mr Kessler conducted an investigation against Mr. Dalli on instructions of the President of the Commission, Jose Manuel Durao Barroso. The Court of Appeal agreed with the Brussels Criminal Court that, on 15 September 2023 declared Mr Kessler to be a liar and irresponsible. This closes the first chapter of the fight in which John Dalli has been engaged for 12 years to clear his name from the fraud committed against him by the Commission.

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The fraud continues in Malta.

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Action to Cover up and support Kessler

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The Maltese legal services that conspired with Kessler in Brussels in November 2012 are still harassing Dalli and his family to give the Commission an excuse to keep the case and the presumption of guilt without resolution. They instituted summons in the Maltese Court, which they are prolonging.

On September 3, 2021, 9 years after the termination of Dalli, Angelo Gafa, who became the Malta Commissioner of Police, issued a summons against Dalli as would have been agreed in the conspiratorial meeting 9 years before. The timing of this summons coincided with the anticipated appearance of Mr. Kessler in the criminal court.? Kessler needed a statement suggesting that Maltese authorities took action against John Dalli, potentially bolstering his credibility.? Angelo Gafa accommodated Kessler’s agenda.?

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A muddled case mired in illegality.

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The day after the police presented the summons in court, Rachel Attard, a journalist with the Malta Independent, published the news. It is interesting to know who gave her the story. Dalli’s daughters only officially received the summons three weeks later, and this was only when Dalli’s daughter went to the Police Headquarters to pick it up herself.

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Immunity !!!? No thank you

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A hearing was scheduled for September 17, but the Prosecution requested a postponement on the excuse that the Prosecutor was in COVID quarantine. Three days before the second hearing on November 12, 2022, the Prosecution surprisingly requested another postponement, as they discovered that John Dalli enjoyed immunity.?? In response, Dalli strongly objected to the delay, emphasising that once the case commenced, it should proceed to its conclusions, allowing him to expose the fraud committed against him.

Dalli had never invoked or relied on immunity, in stark contrast to Giovanni Kessler and the Commission, who persistently insist on immunity even today.? Notably, it was only after Dalli's statement to the court relinquishing immunity, that the Commission informed him that the attorney general had asked for the lifting of his immunity 6 weeks before and asked for his comments.? Dalli promptly reiterated his stance, emphasising that, in the pursuit of justice, he wanted the case to move forward.? The strategic manoeuvre of accusing and then withdrawing due to immunity was a stratagem aimed at perpetuating the perception of the allegations against Dalli.

It is astounding that the Commissioner? of Police John Rizzo and the then investigator Angelo Gafa kept repeating for 11 years, on every opportunity organised with the mercenary media in Malta that they wanted to arraign me when they must have known that I enjoyed immunity.

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The Prosecution on Holiday

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The next hearing was scheduled for December 12, 2021.? The Prosecution again requested a postponement as the prosecutor was on holiday.

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Perjury

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The legal proceedings commenced on February 9, 2022, with Angelo Gafa providing a three-hour testimony echoing Kessler's report.? Subsequently, on February 18, other officials involved in the investigation presented their statements.? Michael Cassar, who had stepped down from Commissioner of Police, admitted that more information was needed for the police to take action against Dalli.? Strikingly, all statements relied on circumstantial evidence, lacking a single piece of valid proof.? Notably, on Dalli's instructions, his legal team refrained from urging the court to assess if there was a prima facie case for dismissal.? Dalli, committed to due process, aimed to thoroughly navigate the proceedings, ensuring the opportunity to scrutinise tobacco lobbyists, Commission, and OLAF officials who had consistently evaded the scrutiny of their actions.

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Criminal Procrastination

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Since the issuance of the summons, the court of magistrates has held 23 sessions[1] [1]dedicated to the supposed presentation of evidence by the prosecution.? However, only perjured testimony has been put forth, and formal charges against Dalli have yet to be formulated.? In the most recent sessions, each lasting an average of 10 minutes, the prosecutor managing this prolonged delay was promoted to magistrate. As of November 1, 2023, Dalli's legal team has formally written to the Attorney General, urging her to take the necessary steps to conclude the prosecution and allow the defence to proceed.? Unfortunately, no response has been received thus far.

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A call for justice

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As the case keeps dragging on and on, with no real court hearings taking place, John Dalli is calling for justice and is publicly asking for the lifting of the immunity given to OLAF for all those involved to be exposed. Above all, Mr Dalli wants his name cleared by the Commission of the false allegations.

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Truth will prevail

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These were years of persecution, hypocrisy, treachery, hatred, greed, paranoia, and corruption with constant attacks on John Dalli and his family.? Dalli declares that he will keep exposing the corruption, abuse of power and disregard of the rule of law in Malta and the European Organisations.

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[1] Up to 9 July 2024