The PN and the NGO Repubblika have said that the Attorney General has an obligation to explain the decisions which it has taken in connection with the botched HSBC heist.

The statements come after Darren Debono, known as it-Topo, sensationally pleaded guilty to his involvement in the 2010 heist on the eve of the beginning of the trial by jury of Vincent Muscat in connection with the same heist.

Debono was sentenced to 10 and a half years in prison for his involvement in the heist, but had charges for attempted murder on a policeman dropped to attempted grievous bodily harm.  He will now testify as a key witness in the case.

The PN said that the Attorney General has an obligation to explain the reasons behind the decision to grant Debono a plea bargain, particularly as this is a case of a serious nature and which concerns public safety.

“This is even more the case when people in public roles have been implicated in these cases,” the PN said in what is likely a reference to the fact that one of their MPs Jason Azzopardi has claimed that government minister Carmelo Abela, then an HSBC bank manager, was involved in the heist.

Abela vehemently denies that suggestion and has filed a libel suit against Azzopardi.

The PN said that in the interest of transparency and accountability in the administration of justice it was expecting the Attorney General to explain why the decision was taken to drop certain charges when a number of members of the police force had their lives put in clear danger during the hold up.

The PN reminded that as per the constitution, the Attorney General enjoys constitutional independence, and is not and should not be subject to any direction or control from any other person or authority.

“The PN expects the Attorney General to work in an independent manner and be available and ready to keep the public updated about how it carries out its duties so that justice is not only done, but is seen to be done,” the party said.

The statement was signed by MPs Beppe Fenech Adami and Karol Aquilina.

In a separate, but similar statement, the NGO Repubblika also called for the Attorney General to explain why it had chosen to offer a plea bargain to Debono, and that it should show that it is serving the interests of justice and not anything else.

The NGO noted that a plea deal can be granted if the prosecution is unsure of whether a guilty verdict can be achieved in trial, but noted that in this case, the accused (Debono) was injured at the scene of the crime by shots fired from the police.

“It does not appear that there should have been any difficulty for the prosecution to try the person who admitted their guilt today,” Repubblika said.

It continued that with this plea deal, the Attorney General had sacrificed the maximum penalty for a very serious crime, noting that in the cases of such crimes there have to be serious punishments in order to offer serious deterrents.

“The Attorney General has to give the public an explanation with valid reasons about the sacrifice they have made.  This is because even though a plea deal is a permissible substitute for juries by law, the obligation for justice to be done does not disappear,” Repubblika said.

The NGO said that this is aggravated given how Minister Carmelo Abela had been mentioned in connection with the case.

“The Attorney General has to assure the public that this plea bargain is going to result in more evidence about what happened in that hold-up, and not be used for evidence to be hidden or witnesses who implicate people who are or were in politics to be discredited,” Repubblika said.