Koħħu bristles at Prime Minister’s ‘arch criminal’ label

Daphne Caruana Galizia murder suspect Vincent Muscat ‘il-Koħħu’ has filed a judicial protest against the Prime Minister, after he described Muscat as an “arch-criminal” in comments to MaltaToday earlier this week.

In the court protest, filed by lawyer Marc Sant, Muscat points out that he had formally made a request for a Presidential pardon in November 2019, also sending a clarification letter in December and a reminder letter in June this year. “As of today, 4 November 2020, he remains without an answer to this request,” Sant argued.

The judicial protest goes on to point out that in recent days, Prime Minister Robert Abela had acknowleged that he had been the legal representative of brothers Adrian and Robert Agius, known as tal-Maksar in past court proceedings. “This information came to light because the Prime Minister was asked by a local newspaper and not because he offered it of his own accord.”

Koħħu bristles at Prime Minister’s ‘arch criminal’ label

More recently in a comment to the MaltaToday on 2 November, the Prime Minister referred to Vince Muscat  as an “arch-criminal”, points out the judicial protest, which he said impinges on his Constitutional right to be considered innocent until proven guilty.

The PM’s comments obscures a balanced and proportionate judicial process without casting shadows and presumptions in view of the fact that the executive had already condemned Vince Muscat without due process, Marc Sant said in the protest. He added that the words said were “not worthy of a serious Prime Minister” and shows that he would not be in a position to give a dispassionate judgment when the time came. “Therefore the Prime Minister’s conflict of interest is crystal clear and manifest.”

Sant reminded Abela that he had to act in the interests of the whole country and not in the interest of his party, without fear or favour, as per his oath of office. It was important that the Prime Minister not only not take part in the decision on the pardon, but to also ascertain that a cabinet minister of his who has a direct interest in this issue is also removed from the decision making process.

The protest demands the Prime Minister excuse himself and take back what he said about Muscat and ascertain that neither he nor the minister in question “who is known to the Prime Minister” take no part in the decision on the pardon.

Musscat, one of three men accused of having assassinated the journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia, has told the police he can name a Labour politician whom he believes helped plan a heist on the HSBC Malta headquarters in 2010. Additionally, Caruana Galizia family lawyer and Nationalist MP Jason Azzopardi declared that Prime Minister Robert Abela has been aware since March 2020 that a member of his Cabinet – “not a lawyer” – has been implicated in a crime by Muscat, in his pleas to police for a presidential pardon in return for information on a series of crimes.