Good evening,
These are the main headlines reviewed by our editorial and research team for today.
Developing Story :
The leader of the Nationalist Party, Adrian Delia published the Egrant inquiry report. PN and Opposition Leader Adrian Delia said that in agreement with the members of parliament, he will be publishing the Egrant report in its entirety.
Egrant Inc. was a mystery company with a structure set up in Panama alongside Hearnville and Tillgate – two other companies which the Panama Papers revealed were owned by former minister Konrad Mizzi and the Prime Minster’s former chief of staff, Keith Schembri. In April 2017, the late journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia had alleged that the company was owned by the prime minister’s wife Michelle, prompting Dr Muscat to request a magisterial inquiry into that claim. What followed a year later, in the summer of 2018, was what has become known as the Egrant inquiry report.
Delia was reported saying that he had the option of not publishing as the Prime Minister had done before him. Newsbook reports that he had the option of redacting the document, another option which the Prime Minister had availed himself of it extensively in other reports. He finally had the option of publishing the document in its entirety.
He said that having consulted with legal experts, the first two options were not acceptable to him and there was no legal reason why the full publication should not happen. “This was my choice. This was also the choice of the members of parliament on the side of the PN” concluded Delia. Yesterday, the Constitutional Court ordered the Attorney General to give Delia a copy of the report.
Delia said that the report shows that there were cases where the authorities had to take steps, but instead failed in their duties, and did not take steps according to law. “This means that Joseph Muscat, Owen Bonnici and the Attorney General knew for 18 months that steps needed to be taken and that there were investigations that had to take place, yet they did nothing. As a consequence, important evidence could have been hidden for the truth to remain a mystery”, according to The Malta Independent’s report.
In a statement, the Maltese Labour Party said that the publication of the report might hinder the judicial process, while confirming that the allegations of the ownership of the company by Muscat was a frame-up, according to the report of ILLUM.
Magistrate Nadine Lia has abstained from hearing the inquiry into a phantom job given to Melvin Theuma. The magistrate, who is related by marriage to Prime Minister Joseph Muscat’s personal lawyer Pawlu Lia, said the step was being taken to ensure that justice “was being seen to be done.” Source: MaltaToday
Reuters says that prior to the murder accusation, Noor Bank handed Yorgen Fenech two cheques totalling €1.5 million when in April 2019 it closed the accounts established in the name 17 Black. Two sources familiar with the 17 Black probe told Times of Malta a request for information sent to the UAE by the police, via the magisterial inquiry, was never taken seriously by the Dubai authorities. The source said “incorrect” banking information listed by the police in the request sent on December 18, 2018, likely meant the UAE authorities dismissed it as a “fishing expedition”. This “incorrect” information would have made it even harder to obtain cooperation from a jurisdiction notorious for its financial secrecy.
Meanwhile, images of the two cheques leaked to the Daphne Project, which is coordinated by French NGO Forbidden Stories, show Noor Bank closed Mr Fenech’s accounts last April. This is the first time documentary evidence showing Mr Fenech’s link to 17 Black is being published. Source Times of Malta
Deputy Prime Minister Chris Fearne said that if he is elected to the leadership post, he will remove the position of Chief of Staff from the Office of the Prime Minister. In an interview on One Radio, Fearne said that the OPM cannot have two centres of power. He added that while he would see to it that there would be a sufficient number of advisors, there will not be a chief of staff and the decisions will be taken by the Prime Minister and cabinet together with experts. He said that he would not want to see a concentration of power in one pair of hands as this could go horribly wrong, as has been shown to have happened. Source: Newsbook
MEPs from the European People’s Party and Renew Europe amongst others called for the immediate resignation of Prime Minister Joseph Muscat in a debate at the European Parliament on a resolution on the rule of law in Malta – a resolution which the Labour Party’s MEPs all described as being “unjust” and “unfair”. Source: The Malta Independent
Keith Schembri, who was due to testify this morning was not seen among the pool of witnesses because he was not notified with the court summons. This resulted in Mr Justice Lawrence Mintoff issuing a warrant of arrest in his regard. The Court has decided that the testimony of the rest of the witnesses, including that of Keith Schembri, will continue to be heard tomorrow because Dr Victoria Buttigieg, who is appearing as a representative of the Attorney General’s office, was expected to be sworn in as the State Advocate later on today. Source: TVM
