Home Affairs Minister Michael Farrugia could not confirm the crime that Lorin Scicluna, one of the soldiers accused murdering Ivorian Lassana Cisse, had committed before entering into the army when questioned in Parliament on Tuesday, citing the need to check whether there is an impediment over the publication of the said soldier's name in conjunction with the case, as the person committed the crime when he was still a minor.

Farrugia was answering questions after he gave a ministerial statement on the case in the first parliamentary sitting since Francesco Fenech and Lorin Scicluna were charged with murdering Lassana Cisse and injuring Ibrahim Bah and Mohammed Jallow in racially motivated attacks.

One such question came from PN MP Karol Aquilina, who noted that the nature of the crime which one of the soldiers had committed had not been mentioned thus far.  From the charges laid against the two, it was noted that Scicluna was accused of breaching bail conditions.

Aquilina asked the minister whether he could confirm that the crime that one of the soldiers had been accused of, and subsequently admitted to, was "of a sexual nature" and whether it was "so serious that Interpol had to be involved".

Farrugia had earlier noted that both Fenech and Scicluna's criminal records were clean when they entered the army as recruits, and noted that Scicluna's case had been decided after he had entered the army.  He said that until a person is found guilty by the courts, the AFM presumes the said person to be innocent, but added that if the person is indeed then found guilty, then the army will take into account the nature of the crime and the sentence handed down.  If the crime is found to be serious, the said person will have disciplinary procedures taken which could even result in his or her sacking.  If it is not a grave crime, the person is given an official warning and the chance to reform him or herself unless another crime is committed in a stipulated period of time.

Replying directly to Aquilina's question, Farrugia said that the person in question was a minor when this crime was committed and that he needed to check whether there is an impediment over the publication of the said soldier's name in conjunction with the case.

The Minister also took a swipe at Aquilina, saying that he should ask "his friend" - ostensibly referring to PN MP Jason Azzopardi, who was legal counsel to Scicluna when he was first arrested - who, he said, is the said person's lawyer as to the nature of the crime.