Simon Busuttil vows to fight on after court's 'shocking' Panama Papers decision

Busuttil’s request for a magisterial inquiry was rejected by the court of appeals, which said that the former Opposition leader's assertions amounted to mere speculation 

Former Opposition leader Simon Busuttil has vowed to continue his fight for justice in light of Tuesday's decision by the Court of Appeals to overturn an order for an inquiry into possible money laundering exposed by the Panama Papers.

"We have a choice to make," Busuttil wrote. "We can either give up and let the corrupt get away scot-free. Or we can continue fighting for justice."

Writing on Facebook Busuttil again described the decision as "shocking", adding that that one would never have expected the court to discard an investigation when the Prime Minister’s Chief of Staff and one of his top cabinet ministers were caught opening secret companies in Panama. 

“The respected Venice Commission recently expressed serious concern on the rule of law in Malta and in particular, on the independence of the judiciary. However, I never imagined it would be such a struggle for justice to prevail in our country,” Busuttil wrote. 

The former Opposition leader reiterated his belief that the country's institutions were unable or unwilling to act.

“Still, the Prime Minister refuses to order an inquiry. The Police Commissioner won’t investigate. The Attorney General won’t investigate. The FIAU won’t investigate. And now, even the court refused to start an investigation,” Busuttil said. 

Simon Busuttil insisted that information already in the public domain should have been enough for an inquriy to be launched. 

“I have been insisting for an investigation since Daphne Caruana Galizia first exposed them in February 2016. It’s not like there isn’t enough evidence out there in the public domain to, at least, start an investigation,” he said. 

Busuttil said that following the decision, many people were asking whether the law really applied equally to everyone and whether people in power were above the law.

“How on earth can we ever get justice if none of our institutions are willing to investigate corruption by people in power?” 

Busuttil’s request for an inquiry was rejected on Wednesday, after judge Giovanni Grixti decided that the request failed to satisfy the legal requirements for a magisterial investigation.  

READ MORE: Why a Maltese judge threw out Simon Busuttil’s complaint for a Panama Papers investigation