The police will publish the conclusions and implement the recommendations of the independent investigation into how the corps handled the Iosif Galea case, the police commissioner promised on Wednesday.   

Iosif Galea, a gaming consultant, was arrested last month in Italy and has been wanted by German authorities since last year. He was travelling with a group that included former prime minister Joseph Muscat at the time of the arrest on the strength of a European Arrest Warrant. 

The Malta police have been criticised for having sat on the European arrest warrant and allowing Galea to travel. They have since said that Galea is also wanted locally to face charges over his suspected involvement in a racket that saw commercially sensitive information leaked from within the MGA. 

Questioned during a police activity in Marsaxlokk about whether disciplinary action had been taken against the officers involved, Police Commissioner Angelo Gafa' said no action could be taken while the case was being investigated by the independent police complaints board. 

Gafa said he was the one who had requested the investigation and he also appeared before the board. 

"I told the board members that I intend to publish their recommendations, as well as implement them," he said.

He insisted the board is completely independent and he denied claims against him and other senior staff in relation to the case, without going into specifics.

No information on Ian Abdilla due to 'data protection law'

Gafa was also asked for an update on former assistant police commissioner Ian Abdilla, who last August was suspended by the police commissioner. His suspension followed criticism for inaction in the wake of the Panama Papers revelations.  Abdilla was head of the Economic Crimes Unit at the time. 

Abdilla had testified several times in the Caruana Galizia public inquiry. He had tried to justify his inaction at the time the Panama Papers scandal broke by saying that he would have done things differently.

Replying to questions, Gafa said while the police had said that disciplinary action had been taken against senior officers, he could not say more because of  the data protection law.

In Parliament last month, Home Affairs Minister Byron Camilleri had said disciplinary action against the former Economic Crimes Unit head was “still pending”.