Parliament’s ethics committee will on Monday discuss the Standard Commissioner’s report into the November 2019 journalist lock-up at Castille.

The report is one of the items on the agenda of the Permanent Committee on Standards in Public Life, which is set to meet at 4.30pm.

The report, which concluded that the Office of the Prime Minister had breached ethics when it briefly blocked journalists from leaving after a 3am press conference, was handed over to the Speaker two weeks ago.

PN MP Karol Aquilina told this newsroom on Monday that the government members on the committee – Justice Minister Edward Zammit Lewis and Home Affairs Minister Byron Camilleri – were “trying to delay” the debate.

Speaker Anglu Farrugia told The Malta Independent on Monday that he was trying to find a date that was suitable for all members.

It seems now that the Speaker and the four members, who also include PN MP Therese Comodini Cachia, have agreed to start the debate on Monday. The Standards Commissioner, George Hyzler, will also be invited to attend.

While the report has not yet been published, the fact that it was sent to the Speaker means that a breach of ethics has been found.

Hyzler’s investigation came after a complaint was filed by the Institute of Maltese Journalists.

The incident took place on 29 November 2019, when journalists were called in for a 3am press conference at the Auberge de Castille.

The Cabinet had spent the day discussing a request for a presidential pardon by Yorgen Fenech, who stands charged of being a mastermind in the murder of Daphne Caruana Galizia. The request was refused.

At the end of the press conference, journalists were blocked from leaving the room for a few minutes, with OPM staff saying that this was done to give then Prime Minister Joseph Muscat and the rest of the Cabinet to leave the room.

The doors were kept shut by unofficial security personnel.

The case had also ended up in court, but three of the security officials - Jody Pisani, Mark Gauci and Emanuel McKay – were cleared of detaining journalists against their will.