Prime Minister Robert Abela on Monday confirmed that multiple people had been charged in connection with the recently concluded hospitals inquiry, and said that “justice must be done without motives behind it.”

In a press conference at Castille, Abela said that the judicial process that has to follow the filing of charges tied to the Vitals inquiry must have one aim, "the proper administration of justice."

This, he said, means that justice "must be done without motive behind it." Abela was speaking on Monday afternoon, after the news broke that charges were filed in court in relation to the Vitals inquiry.

The Prime Minister again questioned the timing of the conclusion of the inquiry being so close to the MEP and local council elections, but also went a step further and asked multiple questions about the processes that the magistrate had used in the course of her investigations.

He posed these questions despite – contrary to what the Opposition had claimed earlier in the day – not having the magisterial inquiry in hand.

Abela said that charges have been filed against a number of people, including current and past public officials.

Addressing the press, he went into a definition of what a magisterial inquiry is. 

"It is true that it is led by a magistrate, but it is not a court. The magistrate in an inquiry does not form a court, but wears the hat of an investigator. The work of that investigator is only to preserve the facts they find. Then according to those facts, on very low grade, which could be on what is probable or possible, the magistrate can order accusations that are to be issued and against whom,” he said.

“This doesn't mean that guilt was found; so much so that we are not speaking about a court, but about an investigation. The guilt or innocence of those who will be charged will eventually need to be established in court," he added.

He said that the judicial process started when the tabling of charges was made, but then really starts with the first sitting of the compilation of evidence. "What is sure is that while we are talking, we cannot talk about someone or some people who are found guilty of something." He said that all of them, irrespective of what position they have or had, start with the presumption of innocence.

"I am not in a position to talk about whether that presumption of innocence was safeguarded during the magisterial inquiry and I will not fall into the trap of saying that there was a presumption of guilt instead against a number of people," he said.

He said that when the judicial process starts, "everyone will have the opportunity to determine whether or not the magisterial inquiry began with the presumption of guilt against certain people… I hope that this is not the case."

He reiterated his hope that the proces verbal - the report sent to the Attorney General - would be published by the Attorney General, thereby implying that – contrary to what the Opposition had alleged earlier in the day – the inquiry was not in his possession.

Abela again pointed out the length and the timing of the inquiry, saying that the inquiring magistrate took four-and-a-half years to conclude the inquiry and noted that it closed "precisely with the opening of the candidacy for the MEP and local council elections."

He said that last January he had information that the magisterial inquiry’s conclusion was going to coincide with the electoral timeline. "I felt the obligation to speak that day as I felt that such a process should be degraded into the realm of partisan politics.”

Abela again mentioned that there were leaks from the inquiry, and said "there were people who would announce when searches were going to occur, and episodes of where those same people were present while searches were ongoing, people who were not meant to be informed about searches."

He questioned whether it is true that today people who are or were loyal servants of the State had been charged by the inquiring magistrate, without even being given the chance to testify or being notified that they were under investigation.

"If this is true, I would be deeply disappointed; not for myself, but because of how the principles of justice would have been allowed to degrade to this level. I do not want to be the defence lawyer for loyal state servants, but if it is true, that injustice must be fixed during the judicial process," he said.

He said that the country saw a “revolution” when it comes to the rule of law in 2020. "But prevailing all this, are the fundamental rights of every person who, where before serious accusations are levelled against them, have the basic right to be heard. That is why I leave this point as a question, and if it is in the affirmative I will be able to speak later down the line."

He said that now that the inquiry closed, the process that needs to start against a number of people must have one aim, "the proper administration of justice."

“Justice must be done without any motives behind them. What is deserved and right must be done – beyond any political controversy,” he said.

Abela continued that “everybody has a right to defend their names, everybody has a right to due process, and the general public has a right to know the contents of the inquiry.”

“We are in a delicate moment, but we must remain calm,” Abela said.  He continued that everyone has the right to analyse the process of the inquiry and to ask whether these questions that he had posed are true or not.

He further added that people also have a right to question whether certain people who have been charged are being charged because they had displayed shortcomings, as indicated in the magistrate’s proces verbal, or whether they are being charged just because of their role.

Abela says he will wait for proces verbal before deciding on resignations

Fielding questions from journalists, Abela said that he would not be accepting any resignations from public officials – including ministers – on the back of them being charged, reiterating comments from last week that he would only act on the basis of what is written in the proces verbal.

Speaking about Deputy Prime Minister Chris Fearne, who may be among those set to be charged, Abela said that he “will see if there is content in the proces verbal to back up and justify the charges, or if he is being charged just because he was Health Minister or Deputy Prime Minister.” 

“If there is a gap between the two, then I will reach my own conclusion that the proces verbal was not motivated by justice, but had other motivations,” he said.

The same criteria would be used, he said, for Central Bank governor Edward Scicluna and for whether former Prime Minister Joseph Muscat should be expelled from the Labour Party.

Abela suggests foreign experts engaged by magistrate only want a pay cheque, says magisterial inquiry reforms are needed

While answering questions from journalists, Abela raised even more questions about the inquiry – including making implications about the experts appointed during the course of the inquiry, which according to a report by the Labour Party’s Sunday newspaper it-Torca cost €11 million.

He questioned whether people should have the right to know who the “foreign experts” who “snatched” €11 million were, and whether there was any exercise of financial accountability on the magistrate’s part on how the money was spent.

“Don’t forget, these [foreign experts] have no safeguards like our magistrates and judges have with their oath of office. These are companies: let’s not beat around the bush, their interest is to do an exercise and get paid as much as possible,” he said. 

“Obviously, the more time passes and the more successful results they give you – and people can judge what success means – then obviously they will be appointed more,” he added.

“That’s why we need reforms.  The magisterial inquiry – or at least how it’s been interpreted in this case in terms of what tools and powers it has – I think the time has come for us to seriously speak about reforms to the magisterial inquiry process,” he concluded.

While answering questions, Abela also revealed that former Finance Ministry Permanent Secretary Alfred Camilleri – who he said is a man who enjoys respect internationally – was among those charged, and questioned whether this was done merely as a punishment for having served under both a PN and a PL administration.

Abela was also asked about the ‘establishment’ which he has said is responsible for the apparent politicisation of this inquiry.

In giving various answers to different questions, Abela said that the establishment are those who removed and “humiliated” Adrian Delia from the post of PN leader, suggested that a Lovin Malta journalist had been given a question - which was on whether Abela would call a general election like his predecessor had done with the Egrant case - by the same establishment to “destabilise the country” (a suggestion which the journalist denied), and said that the Church’s media house Newsbook was also part of this establishment.