All the people who are found to be criminally responsible for helping Libyan people obtain visas in an irregular way will be punished, parliamentary secretary Jose Herrera said this afternoon.
Asked by journalists on the Joe Sammut case, Dr Herrera said that there is a judicial process taking place and he did not want to comment on the proceedings.
Accountant Joe Sammut, a former Labour Party treasurer and candidate, was arraigned under arrest and faces a total of 13 charges, which also include making use of false documents and breach of his professional duties as an accountant.
Dr Herrera said that the fact that Mr Sammut was for a time a PL official does not mean that the Labour Party is involved in the scandal. If a magistrate retires and commits a crime it does not follow that the judiciary as a body should be involved, he said. “There are always bad apples,” he said.
He said that the due diligence exercise will be upgraded to make it even harder for people applying for visas to be granted one.
Asked whether the visas that have been granted will be revoked, he said this question must be made to Identity Malta, which does not fall under his responsibility.
Government needs to first fight institutionalised corruption- Opposition
In a reaction, the Opposition said that a new visa scheme is no enough to fight the institutionalised corruption present. The government needs to take the necessary steps against those responsible, it said.
The Opposition stressed that the government needs to ensure that action is taken against all persons within public entities that were somehow involved in the Joe Sammut case. It also needs to identify the number of persons who are illegally residing in Malta and revoke any visas and residency permits issued irregularly.
The statement said that a new scheme will not be of benefit if the same people are managing it. The revelations have a serious impact on our country’s national security as well as reputation and the government is wrong in waiting three ways to hold a national security committee meeting, it concluded.
Government reacts
In a reaction, the governent said that the Opposition is either divided or confused. In the past week, the government consulted with Deputy Leader Mario De Marco about the scheme and the Opposition also puts forward its proposals. The government also included amendments as suggested by it.
The government is investigating alleged corruption, irrelevant of who is involved, the statement said.