Muscat supporters to hold ‘solidarity’ march on day he is criminally charged

Supporters of former Prime Minister Joseph Muscat will be organising a solidarity march in Valletta on the day he is criminally charged in court.

The former Labour leader will be charged with money laundering, fraud and making fraudulent gain, as well as conspiracy to commit an offence punishable by imprisonment for more than four years and participating in a criminal organisation with more than ten members on Tuesday 28 May.

A poster being shared on social media groups and group chats to inform people of the march next week

Muscat will be charged together with Konrad Mizzi, Keith Schembri, Clarence John Conger-Thompson, Christopher Spiteri, Jonathan Vella, David-Joseph Meli, Ivan Vassallo, Mario Victor Gatt, Brian Bondin, Adrian Hillman, Peter Sladden, Brian Tonna, Karl Cini and companies Sciacca Grill Ltd, Kasco Engineering Company Ltd, FSV Ltd and MTrace p.l.c.

Magistrate Rachel Montebello has been assigned to preside over the compilation of evidence.

The charges come after Magistrate Gabriella Vella concluded her inquiry into the Vitals hospitals deal and passed on the findings to the Attorney General.

The former PM has maintained his innocence, saying he will prove charges against him were false when he is hauled to court.

In an interview with Labour loyalist Manuel Cuschieri last week, he revealed that an Indian national is the whistleblower upon whom allegations against him have been based.

Muscat was hosted on Labour Party radio station One by loyalist Manuel Cuschieri, and said that the Indian national had told the magistrate that “he had heard someone else, say something about me”.

Muscat claimed these declarations, which he has seen in the parts of the magisterial inquiry shown to him, “have not been backed up, and that there is no documentation presented on such allegations. Manuel... there isn’t one shred of paper.”

On Sunday it was revealed Joseph Muscat, Keith Schembri, and Konrad Mizzi are suspected to have received bribes from a €1 million political support fund created by Steward Health Care.

The funds were held by Accutor AG, a Swiss company that received €3.6 million from Steward Healthcare during the period when it took over the 30-year concession of three Maltese state hospitals from Vitals Global Healthcare.

READ ALSO: An inquiry, criminal charges and what’s next for Muscat & Co.

The magisterial inquiry

Magistrate Gabriella Vella, who was investigating the sale of three public hospitals to Vitals Global Healthcare, concluded her report and passed it on to the Attorney General last week.

The inquiry was initiated in 2019 on Repubblika’s initiative.

Joseph Muscat had tried to remove the magistrate from the inquiry, insisting she had a conflict because her relatives were publicly critical of him. He also complained of constant leaks from the inquiry and decried the magistrate’s refusal to let him testify before her.

In January 2022, as part of the inquiry, police officers searched Muscat’s Burmarrad home and seized several electronic devices.

READ ALSO: From deal to big steal: The Vitals timeline