Update 2 | Muscat to abide by inquiry’s findings, Busuttil demands PM’s phone call logs

Simon Busuttil calls on Muscat to come clean on Sheehan shooting

Opposition leader Simon Busuttil has challenged Prime Minister Joseph Muscat to publish his mobile phone call-logs between 9:15pm and 11:15pm on 19 November, the night of the Sheehan shooting incident.

“The only reason why Muscat has not yet removed Mallia is because he himself is involved in this confusion. I challenge Muscat to publish, immediately, the telephone call log of his mobile calls to government communications coordinator Kurt Farrugia, acting police commissioner Ray Zammit, and home affairs minister Manuel Mallia. If he does not, then we must assume that he has something to hide,” Busuttil said. 

Busuttil also questioned whether Farrugia, as the government’s head of communications, had relayed the information to Prime Minister Joseph Muscat.

“Seeing as Farrugia had known everything before the government statement was issued, one must ask whether he had informed the prime minister of what happened – and whether the prime minister therefore also knew of the real version of events before the statement was issued. Two hours passed between when Farrugia first heard the news and when the statement was published. Is it possible that he did not speak to the Prime Minister during that time?”

“For us it is obvious that the prime minister was informed about everything. It is impossible that someone as close to Muscat as Farrugia is did not inform him about something so serious... the prime minister knew everything before the statement was issued, and that makes him an accomplice in the cover-up. How can he be angered and disgusted at what happened when he himself was involved in this cover-up?”

“It is time for Muscat to be a man, come clean and, for once, say the whole truth and nothing but the truth.”

In a reaction at 3:41pm, the Office of the Prime Minister said Busuttil was being selective on the phone recordings he had released, to suit his purposes. "On my part, I have appointed an independent inquiry that has access to all information, including recordings, transcripts and other evidence," Muscat said. "I repeat what I have said from the start, that I will wait for the inquiry to be finished and then take all necessary decisions as I have always done, according to the facts as they are presented to me."

Busuttil declared his party’s “anger and disgust at the political dishonesty” of the Prime Minister and home affairs minister Manuel Mallia over indications that the minister was aware of the Sheehan shooting, contrary to his earlier declarations.

“It is shameful that in a democratic country, the truth of this case is not emerging from the government or the PBS but from the Opposition or the independent media.”

Busuttil says the transcripts published by the PN media shows that the government was aware of the events of the night, to the contrary of what was claimed in the government statement.

“It is clear that minister Mallia, Zammit and Farrugia all knew the full truth of the incident before the government issued the statement. This means that this statement was a cover-up, particularly about where the shots had been fired.”

“Mallia’s position is not tenable and he must be removed immediately. Since Kurt Farrugia and Ray Zammit had known everything too, their positions are no longer tenable either and should be removed immediately too.”

Busuttil also heavily criticised PBS, which falls under Mallia’s portfolio.  
“I am very disappointed at PBS’s behaviour,” he said. “It is the national broadcaster and is paid for by our taxes, but is dragging its feet rather than helping the truth come out.”

In a statement, Green Party Alternattiva Demokratika said that on assumption that the phone transcripts released by the PN media were authentic, the party was calling for the resignation of minister Manuel Mallia.

“We reiterate that Manuel Mallia must be forced to resign. By 9:15 pm on that fateful evening he had communicated with his driver and he knew that Sheehan had shot at body level. Yet, together with the Prime Minister’s aide Kurt Farrugia, he concocted a fairy tale whereby he declared that he had not spoken to his driver and then that the shots had only been fired in the air,” AD chairperson Arnold Cassola said.

“Since the minister has proved himself to be a big liar, after the firing of the bullet shots, it is time for the minister to be fired now. The Prime Minister’s aide should join him immediately until further responsibilities are ascertained. In the meantime, for the sake of truth and transparency, the PN should provide the enquiring judges and magistrate with the original tapes of the telephone conversations.”

Cassola said the new revelations and the investigative stories by the independent media in the past weeks only strengthened the argument that Manuel Mallia was not fit to occupy the position of Minister.

Muscat has launched an inquiry into the Opposition’s allegations of a cover-up of the facts, led by three retired judges. The inquiry has been tasked to conclude by Monday.