Former Repubblika activist Robert Aquilina said he would sooner face prison time than tell the police who leaked the findings of the Pilatus Bank magisterial inquiry to him.

After Aquilina announced that the police will interrogate him under caution over the leaks tomorrow, Lovin Malta asked the activist whether he believes he could sent to prison.

He said he isn’t excluding anything other than that he won’t reveal his sources come what may.

“We live in a country where many institutions are used against the interests of justice so I cannot exclude anything,” he said. “What I’m certain of is that I’m the only person who knows the identity of my sources and I will take this information to the grave. In no circumstances will I expose them.”

“I already took this decision when I published my book a few years ago. I remain convinced of my stance and I will honour it forever.”

He said that while he isn’t personally afraid of potential prison time, he is concerned of the impact it could have on his family.

“However, I made my decision, and I’m at peace with it,” he said.

Aquilina added that the timing of the interrogation, very soon after he was accused of alleged domestic violence against his wife (which he denies), is “very suspicious”.

“I have fundamental rights and I will use them,” he said.

Magistrate Nadine Sant Lia had ordered a police investigation into the leaks last January, and this decision was confirmed on appeal by Judge Consuelo Scerri Herrera a month later.

However, Aquilina argued that the two members of the judiciary used different arguments, stating that while Sant Lia described the evidence as hearsay, Scerri Herrera said the leaked documents were sensitive.