Updated Thursday 9.35am with police U-turn
Police informed Simon Busuttil that they had "changed their mind" and no longer need to question him after his car was spotted carrying posters calling for justice after Daphne Caruana Galizia's murder.
The former Opposition leader was expected to be questioned by the police on Thursday afternoon in a case which sparked anger among many.
In a tweet on Thursday morning, Dr Busuttil said: "I hope they use the time to interrogate Chris Cardona, Kaith Schembri, Konrad Mizzi and their mate Joseph Muscat on the damning #DaphneProject revelations."
Dr Busuttil was asked to report to the Valletta police station just hours after the Labour Party’s television station, One, reported that posters used by activists were spotted inside a car registered under his name. Dr Busuttil's partner, Kristina Chetcuti, later tweeted she was the one helping the activists.
“I find this totally surreal. It’s straight out of a mafia film where the crooks get away with murder whereas people fighting for justice are silenced, one way or the other, including with the use of the police. They've turned our country into a fake-democracy,” Dr Busuttil told Times of Malta on Wednesday.
Read: Spoof movie posters earn Simon Busuttil a police call up
In a Tweet earlier, he argued that the use of his car to transport the posters was more important to the Police Commissioner than interrogating Economy Minister Chris Cardona or the Prime Minister’s chief of staff, Keith Schembri, even in light of the Daphne Project reports.
The crooks get away with murder whereas people fighting for justice are silenced
The mock-movie posters featured top officials, including Prime Minister Joseph Muscat, Mr Schembri and Tourism Minister Konrad Mizzi. They were displayed outside Castille, Parliament and Pilatus Bank offices in Ta’ Xbiex early on Monday.
Pressure group Occupy Justice urged activists to show up outside the Valletta police station at 3pm to urge police to interrogate Dr Cardona "now".
#occupyjustice will STILL be going to the Valletta Police station at 3pm to insist with these seemingly efficient police that they interrogate Chris Cardona NOW. The police knew from day one that Simon Busuttil was not driving the car and tried intimidating us. https://t.co/XKOtf450jr
— #occupyjustice (@occupyjusticema) April 19, 2018
In a reaction, Nationalist Party leader Adrian Delia commented that while the Police Commissioner was quick to investigate Dr Busuttil because posters were put up to mark the assassination of the journalist, justice on the murder itself has yet to be served.
"This is not a normal country," he said.
The Democratic Party also questioned the use of police resources in this manner, saying it doubted there were any good intentions to uphold the law impartially and blindly.
“If a dissenter can be troubled so casually over a freedom of speech issue while allegations of corruption at higher levels do not warrant a police summons then, indeed, is it all well with the rule of law” it said, expressing support to Dr Busuttil in his endeavours to seek justice.
The Daphne Project has so far revealed that Dr Cardona had met with one of the men accused of plating the bomb which killed Ms Caruana Galizia. Leaked documents also showed a total of $1.6 million (€1.3 million) had been transferred to 17 Black, a Dubai company listed as one of the "target clients" which would pay in money to Mr Schembri's and Dr Mizzi's once-secret Panama companies.