Our position on not accepting blackmail will never change

19 September 2019

Joseph Muscat replied to a Council of Europe Commissioner who urged him to drop libel proceedings against Daphne Caruana Galizia, which he continues against her family, by stating that he would do so if the Caruana Galizia family make a declaration to denounce their mother’s work.

Press release from Daphne’s family

When Joseph Muscat said, under oath in court, that he will drop his and his wife’s libel case against us if we accept the findings of the Bugeja report, we said will not concede to extortion by our public servants. Our position on not accepting blackmail will never change.

Furthermore, we do not have access to the whole inquiry report and therefore do not have access to:

  1. testimony given by Daphne Caruana Galizia before the said magistrate;
  2. testimony given by Maria Efimova before the said magistrate;
  3. testimony given by Jacqueline Alexander and whether she confirmed or denied signing a trust document naming the plaintiff Michelle Muscat as the company’s ultimate beneficial owner;
  4. testimony given by Karl Cini and Brian Tonna about the holder of bearer share certificates representing 99% of the equity in Egrant Inc. and in whose name they were held;
  5. reports by the forensic accountants appointed by magistrate Aaron Bugeja to examine and analyse the operational database, accounts and archives of Pilatus Bank Ltd.

A copy of our formal reply in court is available.