The Malta Police Union is calling for the resignation of the Attorney General over the plea deal for Daren Debono in the failed HSBC heist case.
The union had previously filed a judicial protest against the Attorney General after Debono’s charges related to the attempted murder of police officers who responded to the heist were dropped in return for testimony against co-accused Vincent Muscat. Debono was given a 10-year prison sentence for his part in the failed 2010 HSBC heist in exchange for his testimony as part of the plea deal. The plea deal was reached only hours before Muscat’s trial by jury was set to begin. Debono was rearrested following his refusal to give the full testimony, saying that he would only testify against Vincent Muscat ‘il-Koħħu’ and not name accomplices, and was then jailed for six months and fined €4,600 for refusing to honour the conditions of his plea deal.
In a statement on Wednesday, the Malta Police Union made reference, without entering into the merits of the case or any other rights a person has to defend himself in a Court of Law together with any request which may be put forward, to the plea-bargaining deal in relation to the HSBC Heist of 2010.
“The Union was established to defend the rights of its members, and this is what it will continue to do so. The Malta Police Union is disappointed by the fact that the Attorney General did not even have the decency to reply to the judicial protest filed by the Malta Police Union on the 14 January 2022. On the other hand, the AG office found the time to withdraw attempted murder charges from which neither the Justice system nor the Police Officers involved, who are the victims in this case, obtained anything.”
“To this regard, and since that no explanation has been received from the office of the Attorney General, the Union is requesting the resignation of same Attorney General for the only reason that she failed to protect the protectors and those who try to keep our country safe.”
Civil society NGO Repubblika had previously also called for the AG to resign over this incident.