MEP Sven Giegold’s main point of concern is the identity of the person(s) who forged the documents implicating the Muscat family in the Egrant case.
Giegold, a German politician and member of the European Green party, has been a recurring figure in the debate on the rule of law in Malta. He also formed part of a delegation sent by the European Parliament to investigate the rule of law in Malta.
The Prime Minister’s Special Envoy to the European Union, Cyrus Engerer, yesterday informed Giegold of the results over the phone, leading to a twitter exchange where the latter pointed out the “long list of issues in the EP’s rule of law report” still left unanswered.
When contacted by The Malta Independent, Giegold explained how he had always treated the Egrant case carefully, expressing the importance of “assuming innocence when in doubt”.
He had met Joseph Muscat through an invitation presented to him by the Prime Minister himself before appearing before the EU plenary, and the two had spent 45 minutes talking on the case.
“He told me personally that we can say what we like, but not to repeat the accusations against his family because they were totally wrong.”
The inquiry conclusions have shown this to be true, but many questions are still left unanswered.
“This Egrant case is only a small part of the whole picture. And important issues are still not resolved. Who was behind the murder? What was the true purpose of the different shell companies?”
He further questioned the lack of prosecutions of money laundering and corruption in Malta, in comparison to the economic importance of the island.
‘Egrant changes nothing’
MEP Roberta Metsola, another outspoken figure in the battle against corruption, reiterated that this report did not absolve Minister Konrad Mizzi and Joseph Muscat’s Chief of Staff, Keith Schembri of any alleged wrongdoing.
Metsola further added that the publication of the report of the enquiry regarding the ownership of Egrant changes nothing with regard to the hard proven fact that both Mizzi and Schembri had opened secret accounts in Panama immediately after the 2013 election.
“The conclusions of this inquiry do not alleviate any responsibility that Muscat has to take the necessary action against Keith Schembri and Konrad Mizzi.”
Metsola also requested that a process to address this situation is initiated within party structures, to resolve the disagreements and different positions regarding “how best to fight the corruption and abuse that have become so rife under Joseph Muscat’s government”.
The Malta Independent also attempted to speak to a number of other MEPs. David Casa could not be reached by phone. Emails were sent to Alfred Sant, Manfred Weber and Ana Gomes.