Publishing redacted Egrant inquiry report ‘totally unacceptable’ - Democratic Party

The Democratic Party has said it would be “totally unacceptable” for the Prime Minister to publish a redacted version of the full Egrant inquiry report, and that this would only push further the idea that Joseph Muscat has something to hide.

Noting that “the government’s aggressive attitude towards the politicians and/or journalists is further threatening people’s freedom of speech”, the party said that if a redacted report were to be published, this would “further fuel speculation that [it] actually contains information that is detrimental to the Prime Minister or to people he is protecting”. 

It said that the timing of the Attorney General decision to appeal the Constitutional Court’s decision in favour of Judge Antonio Mizzi’s recusal in the Panama Papers case was “another cause for alarm” that “further eroded trust in our institutions”.

“It is now more unacceptable than ever before that the government is trying to prevent an independent inquiry from taking place into other corruption scandals via its appeal against an inquiry into the Panama Papers,” PD underscored.

“If the government truly is concerned about truth, then it must allow an independent investigation to go ahead into the Panama Papers. The government’s representatives must be ready to answer for their own potential crimes,” it emphasised.

“Instead, it is preparing to crack down on the Opposition in a country still asking many questions and seeking many answers, in the wake of an assassinated journalist and countless other scandals unrelated to Egrant,” the party added.