Justice Minister Owen Bonnici accused Nationalist Party leader Simon Busuttil of seeking to intimidate whistleblower Joe Cauchi through the filing of a judicial protest and through statements he made concerning him.

At a press conference held this afternoon, Dr Bonnici also said that in a statement attacking Mr Cauchi, Dr Busuttil effectively tacitly admitted that shady dealings actually took place.

Mr Cauchi, a contractor from Għarb, is claiming that the husband of former Gozo Minister Giovanna Debono - Anthony Debono, who headed the Construction and Maintenance Unit within the Gozo Ministry - had asked him to illicitly carry out work for the benefit of individual constituents with the use of public funds and resources.

Criminal proceedings against Mr Debono are ongoing, and Mr Cauchi - who was the first person to receive protection under the Protection of the Whistleblower Act - testified against him on Tuesday.

His claim that Dr Busuttil questioned why he continued working for Mr Debono when it was clear that the PN would lose the 2013 general election drew a strong reaction from the PN leader, who insisted that this claim was an outright lie. Dr Busuttil also insisted that while Mr Cauchi mentioned the money he was owed, he did not mention the alleged irregular works or practices.

In a judicial protest filed yesterday, Dr Busuttil called on Mr Cauchi to retract his claims and reserved the right to take further action.

But Dr Bonnici clearly found Mr Cauchi to be the more credible of the two men, stating that it was clear that Dr Busuttil wanted to intimidate the whistleblower to prevent him from continuing to give evidence.

Dr Bonnici said that it was not credible for Dr Busuttil to claim that Mr Cauchi did not mention irregularities during the meeting that took place in 2013, particularly since in the email requesting the meeting, Mr Cauchi spoke of "a problem in the past that might be of concern to you in the future." He also said that it was unlikely that someone would seek to speak to the Opposition Leader simply because he was owed money by the government.

The minister highlighted the fact that in a statement issued yesterday, Dr Busuttil described Mr Cauchi as "a self-confessed crook who wanted his pound of flesh because he realised he would not get paid for shady dealings," noting that the PN leader was now convinced that the whistleblower was involved in shady dealings.

"Did Mr Cauchi act alone in these shady dealings, carrying them out while looking at a mirror, or were they carried out in context," the minister asked.

The minister also condemned Dr Busuttil's apparent insinuation that the decision to grant Mr Cauchi whistleblower status was politically-motivated, describing it as an unprecedented attack on the country's institutions. He noted that it was up to the Attorney General - who is independent of the government and who could only be removed from office with a two-thirds parliamentary majority - to take the decision, after consulting with a judge and with the Commissioner of Police.

Dr Bonnici also added that the PN appears to have confused the process with the one through which George Farrugia was granted a presidential pardon to turn state's evidence on corruption in Enemalta's fuel procurement, pointing out that in this case, it was a PN Cabinet which took the decision.