The judgment given by the courts of law against former Minister Manuel Mallia and former police commissioner Peter Paul Zammit confirms what the Nationalist Party has been saying for four years – that the country’s institutions are being undermined by the government, PN deputy leader Beppe Fenech Adami said.

In a judgment given in the First Hall of the Civil Court by Mr Justice Joseph R. Micallef, Mallia and Zammit were found guilty of mistreating Inspector Elton Taliana.

The political interference in the police corps has been evident for five years, with five commissioners appointed as well as the lack of investigation into the biggest scandal ever to rock the country – the Panama Papers.

The government is trying to give the impression that the situation is under control, but the PN believes that what the country is going through is not normal. It is not normal that a journalist is murdered after reporting on corruption, Fenech Adami said, again calling for the resignation of police commissioner Lawrence Cutajar and attorney general Peter Grech.

In reply, the Labour Party said that the fact that the court of law ruled against the government showed that the country's institutions are strong.

It also showed that the rule of law was on a sound footing and that separation of powers enabled institutions to check on each other.