Malta’s police should investigate all corruption allegations to end the perceived impunity in the country, according to the European Parliament’s Civil Liberties Committee and the former Committee of Inquiry into Money Laundering, Tax Evasion and Tax Avoidance (PANA).
MEPs on the committees convened on January 25 to discuss the conclusions of last month’s fact-finding mission to Valletta where they assessed the situation of the rule of law and several allegations of corruption and money laundering.
Maltese Minister of Justice Owen Bonnici attended the meeting in the European Parliament, as did two of the sons of the journalist and blogger Daphne Caruana Galizia, who was killed in a bomb attack in October 2017.
Most of the MEPs criticised the lack of police action, despite the evidence of maladministration involving even members of the Maltese government. They said the situation in Malta is a source of concern for the whole of the EU.
According to a European Parliament press release, many MEPs pointed to the lack of transparency of the Citizenship by Investment programme.
However, Bonnici said he regretted that MEPs did not consider the significant reforms adopted by the Maltese government to address corruption. He assured them that all serious allegations are being investigated.
“It is completely false that this government has put the rule of law in the dustbin,” he said.
