Malta police force ‘surprised’ by Europol executive director’s statement

The Malta Police have expressed their surprise at the comments made by Europol executive director Rob Wainwright, claiming that the Maltese police were at no point informed about any "room for improvement".

Yesterday, the Europol director had cited 'new concerns' in the investigation into the assassination of journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia, and those concerns are now the subject of further, high-level investigations by the agency.

The Malta Police Force said: "until yesterday the Malta Police Force was discussing the way forward on the investigation. Malta Police are now seeking urgent clarification from Europol to understand what Mr Wainwright meant. We believe that the media are misinterpreting an ambiguous sentence."

The exact statement made by Wainwright was: "While we continue to work closely with the Maltese authorities, there is some room for improvement in this cooperation and we are actively seeking to address this."

The Malta police statement continued: "As regards to the statement that new concerns have arisen which are now the subject for further high priority investigation, since this is part of a wider investigation the Malta Police Force cannot comment on this statement."

The Malta Police reiterates that it sought the assistance of Europol and has ever since kept an open relationship on the investigation into the murder of Daphne Caruana Galizia."

from The Malta Independent https://ift.tt/2HyV3cc
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