Government MPs oppose publication of report into Castille detention of journalists

Government MPs have opposed the publication of a report by the Standards Commissioner on the detention of journalists at Castille back in November 2019.

Ministers Edward Zammit Lewis and Byron Camilleri voted against the report being published during a sitting of parliament’s Standards Committee this afternoon.

They asked for a ruling from the Speaker since they claimed the investigation was outside the Standards Commissioner’s remit.

The Opposition members on the committee, Karol Aquilina and Therese Comodini Cachia, voted in favour of the report being published immediately but Speaker Anġlu Farrugia’s casting vote swayed the government’s way.

The discussion was put on hold until Farrugia gives his ruling on the matters raised by the government MPs.

In a statement after the meeting, Aquilina and Comodini Cachia accused the government MPs of wanting to protect Joseph Muscat at all costs.

The incident revolves around an emergency Cabinet meeting called in November 2019 to discuss a request for pardon made by Yorgen Fenech, who had just been arrested as a person of interest in the Daphne Caruana Galizia murder.

At the end of the Cabinet meeting in the early hours of the morrow, Muscat addressed the press but journalists were briefly detained inside the conference room in Castile after it was over.

According to media reports, the Standards Commissioner found that the detention of journalists was unethical.

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