NGO Repubblika on Wednesday submitted an application in the Criminal Court Registry to appeal the judgement delivered last week by Magistrate Nadine Sant Lia, after she rejected the NGO's request to order Police Commissioner Angelo Gafa to charge people involved with Pilatus Bank.
Repbblika had instituted challenge proceedings in a bid to obtain a court judgement that would order the Commissioner of Police to press charges against a number of senior officials at the bank.
The challenge was rejected by Magistrate Sant Lia last week, saying that not enough evidence was tabled for the case to be proven at a prima facie level.
Repubblika's Honorary President Robert Aquilina had said that the NGO will be appealing the decision as it "absolutely disagrees with it."
In a statement on Wednesday, Repubblika said that in its appeal, the NGO emphasized that Aquilina presented a substantial amount of evidence before the court, including an authenticated copy of the Pilatus Inquiry and internal emails from the Police Force.
"Repubblika maintains that this evidence should have compelled the court to order the Police Commissioner to execute the clear instructions given by the Inquiring Magistrate in the Pilatus Inquiry: to prosecute all those identified in the inquiry and they must face charges," the NGO said.
In the application, Repubblika also argued that last week's judgment was riddled with legal and factual errors and that its conclusions are based on these inaccuracies.
For example, Repubblika said that the judgment claimed that Aquilina had not submitted a copy of a specific report, where, in reality, the entire report was presented to the court.
The judgment also stated that Aquilina had not provided proof of the Pilatus Inquiry's conclusions, despite an authenticated copy of those conclusions being submitted by Aquilina himself.
Furthermore, former Deputy Police Commissioner Alexandra Mamo, under oath, confirmed in court that the evidence presented by Aquilina was truthful and entirely accurate, Repubblika said.
Repubblika said that Pilatus Bank caused significant harm to Malta, tarnishing its reputation worldwide to the extent that the bank was permanently shut down by direct intervention from the European Central Bank.
It said that Pilatus Bank was also a primary reason Malta was placed on the FATF grey list, and that the Pilatus Inquiry cost the Maltese public over €7.5 million.
"Repubblika maintains that it is an insult to the Maltese and Gozitan public to ignore the findings of this inquiry," it said.
It said that the legal battle ahead will be challenging, but Repubblika reiterated its commitment to working tirelessly to ensure justice for the country and its people.
Repubblika also expressed its gratitude to lawyer Jason Azzopardi for his legal assistance in the case.