Tag: Dalligate

  • Film Portrays Dalligate

    Film Portrays Dalligate

    The French film director Antoine Raimbault has released a movie about disgraced European Commissioner John Dalli, who was stripped of his role after the EU’s anti-fraud agency claimed he had failed to declare a tobacco-related bribery attempt, reports Malta Today.

    The case dates from 2012, when Dalli’s aide Silvio Zammit allegedly tried to obtain a €60 million ($71.17 million) bribe from Swedish Match to reverse the EU ban on snus. The company rejected the offer as improper and reported it to the European Commission.

    Une Affaire de Principe–marketed as Smoke Signals in English–recounts the story from the point of view of one of Dalli’s sole champions at the time, Jose Bove, a French farmer and member of the European Parliament for the Green party who is perhaps best known for dismantling a McDonald’s franchise in 1999 to protest new U.S. restrictions on importing Roquefort cheese and to raise awareness about McDonald’s’ use of hormone-treated beef.

    Bove suspects Dalli’s defenestration was related to the tobacco industry’s desire to postpone the Tobacco Products Directive.

    John Dalli, who has occupied no political post since his ouster from Brussels in October 2012, has always protested his innocence, claiming he was unaware of Zammit’s actions.

  • Dalli: ‘No Evidence for Snus Bribery Allegation’

    Dalli: ‘No Evidence for Snus Bribery Allegation’

    Photo: Kirill Ryzhov

    Former European Commissioner John Dalli, who stands accused of trading in influence and attempted bribery to help lift the EU ban on snus, said that no evidence was brought against him in two recent sittings, according to a report by the Malta Independent.

    Dalli’s statement was in reaction to the decision on Friday by Magistrate Caroline Farrugia Frendo that enough evidence has been brought forward for him to stand trial.

    Dalli has pleaded not guilty to the charges.

    “Some media in Malta must have had a schadenfreude pleasure in reporting the decision of the court that there is a prima facie case against me and therefore the compilation is to continue,” Dalli said.

    “Anyone following the case objectively would know that in two sittings, not one shred of evidence has been brought against me. It must be said that it was my choice not to move for the prima facie dismissal of the case. I want this hearing to go through the full process and have the opportunity to expose the machinations of the Commission and OLAF officials about this case. This should start during the next sitting. I hope that there will be no attempt to stop this through claims of immunity.”

    The case dates from 2012, when Dalli’s aide Silvio Zammit allegedly tried to obtain a €60 million ($71.17 million) bribe from Swedish Match to reverse the EU ban on snus. The company rejected the offer as improper and reported it to the European Commission.

    Zammit who was charged in December 2012 for trading influence and complicity in the request, passed away earlier this year.

  • ‘Dalligate’ Aide Dies

    ‘Dalligate’ Aide Dies

    Photo: Bits and Splits

    Silvio Zammit, a key figure in the “Dalligate” snus bribery scandal, died at age 57, reports Malta Independent.

    A Maltese businessman and political canvasser for former EU Health Commissioner John Dalli, Zammit allegedly tried to solicit a €60 million ($68.20 million) bribe from Swedish Match in exchange for using his influence to lift the EU ban on selling snus.

    Swedish Match rejected the offer as improper and reported it to the European Commission.

    The European Commission forced Dalli to quit in 2012 after the EU’s anti-fraud office uncovered the bribery attempt. Zammit was charged in December 2012 for trading influence and complicity in the request.

    The case against Dalli continues. On Feb. 9, 2022, he appeared in a Maltese court charged with bribery and trading influence, according to Euractiv.

    Dalli has repeatedly said that he was framed, set up by the tobacco lobby to delay his draft anti-smoking legislation.

    A Maltese investigative journalist, Daphne Caruana, who made various allegations against Dalli in her blog “Running Commentary,” was murdered in October 2017.