Minister for Justice Owen Bonnici has this afternoon told Parliament that he was not allowed to give information on whether any members of the judiciary currently conducting an inquiry requested to go abroad to help in their investigation.
Bonnici revealed this information while replying a parliamentary question by PN MP Jason Azzopardi. The latter asked whether any magistrate conducting an inquiry, asked to go abroad as a follow up. Azzopardi did not mention Magistrate Aaron Bugeja, who is investigating the Egrant case by name.
In his reply, Bonnici said that the law precludes him from replying to the question as it could undermine the Magistrate's secrecy and could not reveal whether any such request had been made.
A separate question by Azzopardi asked whether a court expert had been sacked following his contribution the inquiry. Bonnici replied by saying that the transfer he knew about was that of a court employee who, on Facebook, had expressed her joy at Labour winning the election.
Magistrate Aaron Bugeja is investigating the allegations surrounding the Prime Minister's wife regarding a secret offshore company called Egrant Inc. Joseph Muscat has always denied the allegations and promised he would resign if the investigation finds otherwise.