Maltese MEP Miriam Dalli has called out Portuguese MEP Ana Gomes after comments she made to the Malta Independent seemed to cast doubt on the legitimacy of Magistrate Aaron Bugeja’s inquiry findings.

“Very rich coming from you!” Dalli said in a Twitter post. “You’ve been whispering to anyone who cared listening to you that Malta’s Prime Minister is a crook. Now [you are] trying to tarnish the reputation of our judicial system with a biased argumentation simply because it doesn’t fit your narrative.”

The inquiry had, among other things, found no connection between Michelle Muscat, the wife of Prime Minister Joseph Muscat, and the Panama-based company Egrant.

“I know the limitations of the judiciary in the Malta case” – Ana Gomes

In her comments, Gomes also asserted that Maltese financial institutions like the FIAU and the MFSA weren’t competent in their jobs, and pointed to the European Banking Authority’s recent finding as proof of that.

“The whole law enforcement framework in Malta is very conducive for all sorts of organised crime and money launderers to operate in Malta and out of Malta throughout the European Union,” she continued.

She also said she wasn’t surprised with the Egrant inquiry’s findings, but wouldn’t have been surprised if the findings had found a link between Michelle Muscat and Egrant.

She also pointed out that she had never asserted a position on Egrant as she had been awaiting the outcome of the inquiry, and that the inquiry relied on the declarations of several Mossack Fonseca officials, suggesting that these officials were trying to “fake and obfuscate” wherever they needed.

The S&D Group, which Ana Gomes forms a part of, has said it is “satisfied” with the inquiry

“We are satisfied to see that an independent judicial inquiry has cleared the Prime Minister of Malta and his wife from all allegations. The case shows how important it is to handle such accusations in an open and transparent way and not to prejudge,” said S&D Group President Udo Bullmann.

“When international forensic experts find out that accusations are based on forged documents and false signatures, this is more than alarming. This shows how much energy was invested into the false accusations,” he said. “It is deeply worrying that Malta’s opposition party tried to take advantage of the situation by leading a campaign against the government. This type of campaigning endangers democracy and rule of law, and undermines trust in political parties and institutions

“We will continue to support the progressive work of Prime Minister Joseph Muscat and his fight for the economic and social wellbeing of the Maltese people,” he ended.

Since the inquiry was published, Miriam Dalli has called on the President of the European Parliament, Antonio Tajani, to remove Simon Busuttil from the EU’s Court Press panel

What do you think of the MEPs’ comments?

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Johnathan Cilia

Johnathan is an award-winning Maltese journalist interested in social justice, politics, minority issues, music and food. Follow him at @supreofficialmt on Instagram, and send him news, food and music stories at [email protected]