Recuse The Vitals Magistrate, Joseph Muscat Urges After New Revelations
Joseph Muscat is calling for Magistrate Gabrielle Vella to be recused from her corruption probe in the Vitals hospital deal, taking to social media.
Sharing his judicial filing to Facebook, Muscat said he was doing so because “the outrageous moves of the past few days made me lose all possible trust I could have in this process.”
“Today I filed a request for Magistrate Gabriella Vella to relinquish her role in the Inquiry on the hospitals concession, for it to pass to another member of the Judiciary who can secure impartiality, both as perception and a matter of fact, in this case which has now turned political, he said, before giving his reasons as to why.
“Members of the immediate family of the Magistrate promoted propaganda by those who filed for the Inquiry, and even expressed themselves publicly on the issue under scrutiny. Constitutional caselaw, the Code of Ethics and international principles governing the judiciary are clear about this,” he said among other points.
“As I said yesterday, I will fight even on my own for truth to prevail and for those cooking up conjectures to suit their political agenda to pay.”
Muscat has faced renewed scrutiny following new revelations linking him to a Swiss firm formerly known as VGH Europe. The inquiry is examining €60,000 in suspicious Swiss payments received by Muscat – with his home even being searched as part of the ongoing investigation.
Should the magistrate recuse herself?
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