Magistrate refuses to recuse herself from hospitals inquiry – Joseph Muscat

Magistrate Gabriella Vella has refused to recuse herself from presiding over the inquiry on the hospitals concession, according to former prime minister Joseph Muscat.

In a Facebook post on Tuesday, Muscat said that she decided against the request unilaterally and without a hearing.

“She did so without a hearing since, according to her, the open support by her family members towards those requesting the inquiry and their expressed view on the matters being investigated, do not hamper her impartiality.”

Muscat criticised her for ignoring his requests to testify in the inquiry. “She has only now considered these requests after the situation escalated in an unacceptable manner.”

“To be clear, I asked Magistrate Vella to relinquish her role because of continuous leaks from the inquiry, the way she ignored my requests to testify, and the opinions expressed by her father and brother on the matter being investigated, which surely have an effect on the way in which the administration of justice is perceived.”

“I will take all the necessary steps to ensure that the process, in which I have lost almost all trust, does not end up a political theatre as some intend it to be, but rather a process according to the rule of law.”

Muscat filed the legal request demanding the magistrate’s recusal a day after a joint investigation from The Times of Malta and its partners revealed the role of a former Vitals Global Healthcare company in Switzerland, to receive payments from concessionaires Steward, and to pay out consultancy fees to Muscat after he resigned in the 2019 political crisis.

Muscat has denied knowing that VGH Europe, later Accutor, was receiving any payments from Steward – successors to the hospitals’ first concessionaire Vitals Global Healthcare. He insists he received fees from Accutor for services rendered to it.