Update 3 | Muscat rejects accusations of interference in police board inquiry

Last updated at 7:49pm with government's reaction

According to Prime Minister Joseph Muscat, the ministry for home affairs was "duty-bound" to listen to what Darryl Luke Borg, falsely accused of a crime he didn't commit, had to say.

The Nationalist Party has lambasted what it described as "interference" by Silvio Scerri, Minister Manuel Mallia's chief of staff, after it emerged that Scerri met the victim and his mother a day before the two appeared before the Police Board.

Led by Judge Emeritus Franco Depasquale, an independent inquiry is investigating how Borg was accused of committing a hold-up he didn't commit. A 22-year-old man has since pleaded guilty to having committed the hold-up himself. During Borg's arraignment, police inspectors said they had CCTV footage showing Borg committing the crime.

In comments to the press following a visit at the Notorial Archives Resources, Muscat said it was the home affairs ministry's duty to get Borg's version of events.

"The ministry was duty-bound to listen to the victim's appeal and also give him the opportunity to appear before the police board," Muscat insisted when quizzed by the press.

"The situation would be problematic if it results that somebody abused the situation. The ministry had a duty to listen to a victim who was unjustly arraigned and after exchanging information the victim was advised to give testimony to the Police Board chaired by former Judge Depasquale," Muscat said.

Stressing that Borg contacted the ministry to provide new information about the case, Muscat said that the victim was advised that the information should not be shared with the ministry's chief of staff but it should be shared with the Police Board.

The Opposition has also accused Scerri of association with a convicted criminal and of having used Charles Attard, known as iz-Zambi, as a go-between with Borg.

Attard, today a free man, was convicted of attempting to murder Richard Cachia Caruana, a chief PN strategist and former personal assistant to former Prime Minister Eddie Fenech Adami in 1994.

Both Scerri and the government on Saturday insisted it had been Borg and his mother who requested the meeting.

Asked about iz-Zambi's involvement Muscat told reporters he "appears to enjoy [Borg's] trust".

"He [Borg] could have been accompanied by whoever he deemed fit," Muscat said, when asked over Charles Attard's involvement.

Asked whether it was acceptable for Attard to accompany Borg, Muscat said: "The victim could have taken whoever he wanted to the meeting."

In comments to MaltaToday on Sunday, Scerri said Borg and his mother were accompanied by a third person, but he didn't know who this person was.

Muscat's comments 'shock' the Opposition

The Opposition's spokesman on home affairs Jason Azzopardi has described comments given by Prime Minister Joseph Muscat earlier today over the Police Board inquiry saga as "shocking". 

"It is shocking that the prime minister sees nothing wrong in a senior ministry official speaking directly to a main witness in a supposedly independent inquiry," the MP said.

This behaviour is scandalous, the Opposition said, "more so when it is now clear that it happened with the prime minister's blessing."

Muscat had no credibility when he claimed that the government had a duty to inform the Police Board to hear Borg's evidence, Azzopardi said.

"The board is chaired by an experienced retired judge who does not need the home affairs ministry's  Chief of Staff to tell him who he should hear as a witness," the Opposition MP said.

He added that the prime minister's comments showed that his government felt "comfortable in the presence of criminals."

"The fact that a convicted criminal had direct access to senior government officials was worrying and undermines democratic institutions," Azzopardi said.

Muscat had once again ignored accountability, standards and prudence after promising better governance, the PN added.

Labour's reaction

Jason Azzopardi should shoulder his responsibility, the Labour Party said in reaction to the MP's earlier statement.

"Through their spokesperson, the Nationalist Party chose to make serious allegations for which they should shoulder full responsibility," the Labour Party said.   

It insisted that everyone has a right to make their voice heard and every government has a duty to listen and act upon what the people say.

"The PN remains the party of the past. A party which does not listen and only acts in its own interests."

Government questions 'PN agenda'

In a statement issued in the evening, government 'urged' the Oposition to declare whom it was "defending" adding that the PN was prejudicing the independent inquiry.

"The victim asked to meet with an official from the ministry and, as it was bound to do, the ministry accepted the request. The ministry's official [Silvio Scerri] referred the victim to the police board," the government reiterated.

"The Opposition should say whom it is trying to defend."