The government has written to the European Commission in reply to what the Department of Information described as “false assertions” made by Nationalist MEP David Casa in a letter dated 8 October.
The letter, signed by Minister for European Affairs and Equality Helena Dalli and Minister for Justice, Culture and Local Government Owen Bonnici, was sent to the Vice-President of the European Commission Frans Timmermans and Commissioner Vera Jourova.
The letter says that Casa implies that a member of the Maltese government was responsible for the murder, saying that this accusation is “entirely baseless, fraught with suppositions and innuendos and fails to provide any logical or credible justification or evidential basis.”
The government condemned the spirit in which the letter was written, which is nothing more than an attempt to cause it reputational damage driven by a purely partisan agenda.
The full letter may be found here
David Casa reaction
The weak attempt made by Minister Helena Dalli and Minister Owen Bonnici to defend their colleague in Muscat’s cabinet will not change any of the facts published earlier this week by a group of international journalists, David Casa said in reply.
"In the letter which I sent to the European Commission on Monday, I referred to what had been revealed in the previous hours and asked the European Commission to insist on a public independent inquiry on the role of the Maltese State in the murder of investigative journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia.
"To date, all we know is that which has been published by the media - facts that put a bad light on one of Muscat’s closest Ministers. These allegations further highlight the importance of having a public independent inquiry.
"Helena Dalli and Owen Bonnici were too fast to believe one of their colleagues. If Helena Dalli and Owen Bonnici really wanted to know all the facts on this murder and the role of the Maltese State, they would have supported my appeal for a public independent inquiry. Muscat’s Ministers’ attitude continues to confirm that they have a lot to hide."
PL statement
David Casa is the last person who can speak about facts, and his latest press release is both surreal and a confirmation that he lacks all form of credibility, the Labour Party said.
"For months, together with colleagues within the nationalist party, Casa was part of a political campaign based on forged documents alleging that Egrant, an offshore company, belonged to the Prime Minister or members of his family. This was proven as an outright lie by an independent inquiry. But Casa prefers to ignore the outcome of independent inquiries whenever their result does not please him. And yet he had the audacity to issue a press release saying that facts are sacred."