Watch our summary of today’s proceedings by clicking here.
You can also read our full live blog by clicking here.
EN translation of the summary clip:
After almost a month from the first sitting in the case of the Republic of Malta v disgraced former prime minister Joseph Muscat and his former colleagues and associates, magistrate Rachel Montebello decided that there is enough evidence for every single person and company involved to stand trial, all except for one company that was owned by Muscat’s former chief of staff, Keith Schembri.
In other words, a total of 14 individuals – among them, Muscat, Schembri, former health minister Konrad Mizzi, the auditor and the lawyers who were involved with Vitals Global Healthcare or with Steward Healthcare, the former managing director of Progress Press Adrian Hillman, Nexia BT’s accountants Karl Cini and Brian Tonna – and a total of eight companies are to face the jury.
To be clear, the fact that the case against the company formerly owned by Schembri – now known as Sciacca Grill, previously known as Kasco Foods – was not deemed sufficient at the prima facie stage does not mean that this company cannot be taken to court in the future. Remember that Schembri himself, as well as his other company Kasco Engineering, are still listed among the accused.
The lead prosecutor in the office of the attorney general Francesco Refalo mentioned how Sciacca Grill was one of the companies in the background of the hospitals concession which was given a contract to supply another company that supplied food to the three hospitals.
Towards the end of his statement, Refalo emphasised that there is more than enough evidence not just about Sciacca Grill but about all the main accused to satisfy the criteria set by the prima facie stage.
Naturally, we also heard submissions from the defence, who all continued to express their doubts about the way in which the prosecution, the inquiring magistrate, and the police handled the case.
Among other submissions from the defence which you can read on our live blog, defence lawyer Chris Cilia, on behalf of his client MTrace, accused the experts appointed by the inquiring magistrate of creating a narrative that he thinks is nothing but a fairytale.
Specifically, he was referring to the experts’ conclusions about Josie Muscat, who in his last testimony, said that he had never spoken to Vitals Global Healthcare about the deal, in contrast with expert conclusions about his direct involvement.
We also had two important stories from our end – we confirmed that an executive representative of Malta Enterprise did not say the whole truth in court and that police commissioner Angelo Gafa’ has been recommended for another term in his role.
You can find all this and more on our social media pages as well as on our websites.
See you for the next one.
