[WATCH] Muscat defends party’s decision not to go to police

Labour leader Joseph Muscat has defended the PL's decision not to report an alleged case of drug incidence to the police, insisting that it was "one person's word against another's".

Addressing the press following a visit made at the Kalkara boatyard, Muscat reiterated that the party didn't have the evidence or proof to proceed court, while the individuals who approached the PL weren't ready to testify.

"Abela was informed about the case some days after it happened, while I came to know about it when I received the correspondence," Muscat said.

Today Muscat also insisted that his previous denials on whether he was aware of a drugs incident inside a PL club, were referring specifically to the Attard club, and not the Safi club.

Muscat said he realised that allegations of a drug incident inside a Labour club pertained to the Safi kazin, after listening to an interview on Net TV with the alleged whistleblower, whose reference to the cutting of ice inside the club's kitchen brought the episode to mind.

"It was clear that on Sunday I was being asked about the Attard case, and I had no information that in Attard there had been any incident of the sort... Today it is clear that [the PN] are referring to a totally different case, and it was obvious from this interview that the PN are using this person."

EXPLAINER Two barmen, two incidents, one recording

Today, MaltaToday revealed that the barman who ran the Labour Party club in Safi in 2009 - and was sacked following the discovery of drug use in the club - had asked Muscat to clear his name after claiming he had not been given an opportunity to defend himself when he was shown the door.

Joe Gerada, a former Labour volunteer, is believed to have passed on letters he wrote to Joseph Muscat complaining of his treatment by the party, to the PN secretary-general Paul Borg Olivier during the Independence celebrations last year, in September 2012.

Now Muscat claims it was the Prime Minister's responsibility, as PN leader, to take action when the PN got to know of the matter. "We took steps on the allegations against [Gerada]... the PM took no action when he received the report. Now the PN is using him."

Muscat yesterday was placed on the spot after the Nationalist Party released the contents of a letter by Gerada, complaining to Muscat of the unfair treatment he was given after being sacked.

Muscat yesterday also told MaltaToday that he had accepted to have a picture taken with Gerada "as he does in all cases", at the end of a meeting with the former barman "during which [Gerada] was quite agitated and kept mentioning his family's situation," a party spokesman told this newspaper.

The PN says Muscat lied after having denied being aware of the drugs incident: but Muscat today said that his denials were linked to another incident, this time in Attard, involving another barman who was sacked from the party; and only realised on Sunday that the PN's accusations on drug use inside a party club were connected to Safi.