The Civil Society Network has called upon the Prime Minister to dismiss chief of staff Keith Schembri and Tourism Minister Konrad Mizzi, and for Pilatus Bank’s banking licence to be immediately removed.
Activist Group Kenniesa has also announced that a demonstration calling for the resignation of Police Commissioner Lawrence Cutajar will take place this evening at 7 pm in front of Police Headquarters.
In a statement, the group said that "following the arrest of Pilatus Bankowner, Ali Sadr Hashemi, in the US, we are taking yet another stand against Lawrence Cutajar, Police Commissioner for failure in protecting the people and our country against corruption.
"He has failed to conduct proper investigations into Pilatus Bank; He has failed to protect the journalist who exposed their criminal activities; He has failed to conduct proper investigations and questioning into the real suspects linked to anti-corruption journalist, Daphne Caruana Galizia's assassination. And, following Ali Sadr's arrest in the US, we are left wondering where he is and what he's doing right now to protect us."
Speaking outside the bank offices in Ta’ Xbiex hours after its Chairman Ali Sadr Hashemi Nejad was arrested in the United States, the group also called for the removal of the Police Commissioner and on the PM to initiate impeachment proceedings against the Attorney General.
The group had also been informed that police officers were spotted at the offices following the arrest, while individuals were seen entering the building overnight.
Manuel Delia raised concerns that Ali Sadr's money transfers to evade sanctions were made between April 2011 and November 2013, prior to Pilatus Bank receiving its licence in Malta, placing serious questions upon the MFSA.
“It has been constantly said that the proper due diligence has been carried out, someone is either incompetent and needs to be fired, or someone is corrupt and needs to be removed,” he continued.
Michael Briguglio said that the international community has begun to see Malta as a centre for money laundering and organised crime. He also lambasted the government for talking highly about civil liberties at press events but failing to provide proper protection Jonathan Ferris and Maria Efimova.
“Every time new information surfaces the government has said it was a conspiracy, whether it was the EU or the local media. These are proceedings from the US, this is an article from Reuters, is there a conspiracy now? We expect the authorities to take immediate action, ” he said.
“When the Panama Papers were published, Konrad Mizzi and Keith Schembri did not resign, and now they have more power than before,” he said.
The Malta Independent has tried to contact Pilatus Bank for a reaction. We were told to send questions by email.
