Joseph Muscat withdraws lawsuit claiming breach of fundamental rights in Vitals magisterial inquiry

Joseph Muscat has withdrawn a lawsuit in which he claimed to have suffered a breach of fundamental rights in relation to the Vitals-Steward magisterial inquiry.

When the case was called before Madam Justice Doreen Clarke on Monday, the judge observed that the plaintiff had, earlier today, filed a note in the acts, in which he ceded the case. 

The note provides no explanation for Muscat’s decision to withdraw the case, however in a lengthy post on Facebook uploaded this morning, the disgraced former Prime Minister said that he had been advised by his lawyers to do so, because of “the new lawsuit I filed against the State Advocate and the Attorney General which includes the requests that I was continuously being prevented from filing.”

Muscat lashed out at the magistrate who had investigated the fraudulent hospitals deal for not “recusing herself after her father and brother made political statements about me and the hospitals concession, and instead chose to involve me and send police officers to my house.”

He claimed to have been prevented from filing a mysterious document that he said, “reveals the truth. But Repubblika doesn't want to exhibit it because they are afraid that their dirty game will be revealed to be nothing but a fishing expedition which hasn’t found anything after five whole years.”

Muscat said that his “belief that the Rule of Law was there for everybody,” meant that he had to file a new court case to say that his “being prohibited from using the best evidence from the magisterial inquiry” breached his fundamental rights.

Insisting that he had nothing to hide and that he had worked and paid taxes on his earnings, Muscat said that he had never tried to run away and would be publishing evidence which proved that he was the victim of a political frame-up.

Meanwhile, in a separate Facebook post, former Repubblika president Robert Aquilina described Muscat's withdrawal as "a historic victory".

James D’Agostino appeared for the Office of the State Advocate, while lawyers Charlon Gouder and Vince Galea assisted Muscat.