Criminal charges have been filed in court against a number of people named in the hospitals inquiry by the inquiring magistrate, according to Repubblika’s Robert Aquilina and their lawyer Jason Azzopardi.
Azzopardi particularly wrote on social media that criminal charges have been filed against former Prime Minister Joseph Muscat, his then chief of staff Keith Schembri and former minister Konrad Mizzi.
The former PN MP who is also Repubblika’s lawyer said that charges had been presented against “a large group of people.” “A new chapter for Malta is being written,” he said.
He later wrote that Central Bank governor Edward Scicluna is among those charged with “serious charges which carry with them years of imprisonment.”
It is understood that a total of 19 people are set to be arraigned by summons in connection with the inquiry.
The criminal charges will be handled by the court registrar, who will allocate them to a magistrate at random.
Whichever magistrate is given the case will then set a date for arraignment and notify the accused of the charges they face, and the date when the arraignments will take place.
The charges are being filed on the back of a now-concluded magisterial inquiry into the concession which sold three government hospitals to Vitals Global Healthcare – a concession which later passed on to Steward Health Care and was last year declared as being fraudulent by a court and subsequently annulled.
The inquiry was opened at Repubblika’s request in 2019, and was finalised last week, with Prime Minister Robert Abela going in all-out attack mode against the inquiring magistrate Gabriella Vella, saying that she had politicised the inquiry by supposedly purposely timing its conclusion with the start of the electoral campaign.
In a statement, NGO Repubblika said that it had been informed by the AG’s office that “criminal charges will be presented againsy persons indicated by the inquiring magistrate”.
This communication was received after the NGO had requested to be given a copy of the inquiry related to the “corruption and other criminal activities” in the hospitals’ deal.
Repubblika said this is an important step in the effort for the country to address the difficult situation it finds itself in.
“We will be following what will develop in the next days and weeks to ensure that all that was ordered by the investigation is implemented in full,” the NGO said.
It added that Repubblika will remain committed to defend the people who are defending the Maltese State and the rule of law, in particular members of the judiciary, from “the fascist attacks” they are facing.
The Attorney General has informed the NGO that it will not be provided with a compy of the magisterial inquiry since criminal charges will be submitted. The NGO noted that the Prime Minister and the Justice Minister have been given a copy. “This is not acceptable, and we will insist to be given a copy,” the NGO said.
Muscat meanwhile has for the past year mounted a legal campaign for the inquiring magistrate – Gabriella Vella – to be removed from the case, claiming that she was biased against him particularly as her father and brother had commented about the same hospitals deal themselves.
“I’m assuming I’m going to be charged with something,” Muscat told a press conference earlier this week. “Bring it on. I am bracing myself for it and I will fight it to win it.”
“I am serene because I know what I did and didn’t do, and I have no doubt time will prove me right and I have no problem with being fairly scrutinised. If there is justice in this country, I will be acquitted,” he had said.
