A magistrate decree had stated that “to date, there is enough to show that Joseph Muscat could be involved in the crime of money laundering and corruption,” a court heard on Thursday.
The police search at the former Prime Minister’s home in January last year followed this decree by the magistrate, police superintendent James Grech testified.
He was a witness in constitutional proceedings by Muscat who wants Magistrate Gabriella Vella removed from the inquiry she is carrying out into the Vitals hospital contract.
Muscat is arguing that his fundamental rights will be breached if the magistrate continues to lead the inquiry after she described as “free speech” Facebook posts uploaded by her father and brother about the hospitals’ deal controversy.
Grech said searches ordered inquiring magistrates such as the one at the Muscats home in Burmarrad serve to seize objects of crime so as to preserve them.
He said that he arrived at Muscat’s house at 7am accompanied by Inspector Anthony Scerri and a number of court experts. It is normal for such searches to commence so early; some start earlier than that, the superintendent said.
When Muscat opened the door he asked how many people were present with the police. “Bring them all in. Don’t leave anyone outside,” he instructed.
Everyone walked in, including a female inspector who had been asked to go with the group in view of Muscat’s wife and daughters.
Grech said that that magisterial decree was in a plastic folder which inspector Scerri handed to Muscat as per standard police procedure.
Another witness in Thursday’s sitting was the magistrate’s brother, lawyer Massimo Vella, who said that his social media post was to respond to what fellow lawyer Anna Mallia had written after the judgment on the hospitals’ deal given by Mr Justice Francesco Depasquale last February. Mallia had written that it had been the Labour government that introduced a system whereby people like Adrian Delia could challenge the deal in a court of law.
Vella said that his comment, which was published under that post, was to signal his discord with Mallia’s argument. “Are we to say well done to Labour for creating a mechanism to solve a mess of its own making” was the gist of the comment Vella made.
“I did not express myself…I only criticized the logic behind Mallia’s argument,” said Vella, stressing that his comment could not have been interpreted as being “a step beyond the civil discussion.” “I did not mention anyone by name and made no reference to fraud.”
He said he used the term “taħwida” (mess) in reference to the contract regarding the three hospitals which had been annulled by the court.
“The judgment was crystal clear,” he said, having read a copy he had downloaded….”There was a particular paragraph where the judge stated that there was no wrongdoing by the government but that those involved may have been ‘ingenuous’.”
Asked whether he knew when the hospitals contract was signed and by whom, the witness said that he only knew what was written in the newspapers about it.
Asked by Muscat’s lawyer Charlon Gouder when the deal had been signed, Vella said that he believes it was under Muscat’s tenure. “But I did not single out anyone,” he said.
Vella said that he had never discussed anything related to the hospitals issue with his sister, Magistrate Gabriella Vella.
He said he and his sister did not meet much and when they did it was generally at some family event.
“Anything related to her work and mine is never discussed. She says nothing and no one asks her anything. It is very clear, very plain, very simple.”
He said he never had any political involvement. “I never participated in any political manifestation, never was on any party station and was never a member of any political party,” he said.