د . إAEDSRر . س

Bernard Grech Reacts To Reports Of Criminal Proceedings Against PN MP Toni Bezzina

Article Featured Image

Opposition leader Bernard Grech has reacted to reports of police opening criminal proceedings against PN MP Toni Bezzina.

Grech discovered news that Bezzina may face police charges while being interviewed on Erbgħa Fost il-Gimgħa this evening. He said he would speak on the matter after he established the facts and spoke to Bezzina personally.

“I haven’t had the chance to speak to Toni Bezzina. At the moment, all I know is what was in the public domain. I’ll make my own verifications and proceed from there,” Grech said.

Newsbook reported that Bezzina, who is currently Shadow Transport Minister, will face criminal proceedings for using government employees to carry out maintenance work at a PN każin in 2012.

Bezzina however, told Newsbook that he was “completely unaware” that he was under investigation, and that he hadn’t been called into questioning in the past eight years.

The allegations date back to June 2012, when Labour-owned newspaper Kullħadd and General Workers Union newspaper L-Orrizont reported that Bezzina, who at the time worked for the Public Works Department, asked government workers to carry out maintenance works on the party’s club during working hours.

Asked whether he would ask Bezzina to resign, Bernard Grech said he wants to speak to Toni Bezzina before taking any decisions.

Meanwhile, Bezzina has denied all allegations and filed two libel suits against the newspapers in 2016. He lost the case against Kullħadd but won the case against L-Orrizont in 2017.

In the latter case, the court ruled that L-Orrizont wrongfully claimed Bezzina had pressured government employees to sign a declaration that they had done the work out of their own free will.

This comes as Karol Aquilina resigned as a PN spokesperson and the party’s parliamentary group secretary after criminal charges were filed for driving recklessly on route to parliament.

Lovin Malta has reached out to Toni Bezzina for a comment.

Tag someone who needs to know this 

READ NEXT: Malta To Reopen Libyan Embassy And Looks To Resume Commercial Flights 

Sam is a journalist, artist and writer based in Malta. Send her pictures of hands or need-to-know stories on politics or art on [email protected].

You may also love

View All