Updated 12.10pm with Agius statement

The Attorney General and Police Commissioner should resign after “undermining” criminal proceedings in connection with the Vitals inquiry, civil society group Repubblika said on Thursday. 

Citing procedural mistakes during the arraignment of Chris Fearne, Edward Scicluna and others on Wednesday, honorary president Robert Aquilina said there was a very real fear proceedings could be declared null. 

In a marathon 11-hour session in court, it was revealed that the prosecution was relying on the magisterial inquiry to lead the proceedings and there was no police investigation to back its findings. 

It also transpired that one of the defendants representing DF Advocates, which had been charged in connection with the scandal, had not been notified of the proceedings. 

While the circumstances of the case remain up in the air, Aquilina said the possibility of proceedings being nullified is of “great concern” and said that these “preventable mistakes” could have been avoided had AG Victoria Buttgiegieg and Police Commissioner Angelo Gafa not "abdicated their responsibilities". 

“This has happened because the circumstances for them to happen were made possible,” Aquilina said. 

He said that the logistics dictating the way the accused were being charged did not make sense, as with the sheer number of people accused, there was simply no adequate infrastructure in court to have all of them appear in the same sitting. 

They should have been charged in batches of three to five people, with similar charges grouped accordingly, such as having politicians and permanent secretaries appear separately. 

If this was not possible, and all the accused must be charged together, Aquilina said arrangements should have been made, even perhaps by legal notice, to find an appropriate venue to hold the sitting outside the court building in Valletta. 

'Sabotage on the proceedings'

“The act of having so many people in an inadequate place is an act of sabotage on the proceedings,” he said, adding that this has led to excessively long sessions, which has even prompted the Chamber of Advocates to issue a directive to its members not to work after 10pm. 

While Repubblika has faith in the prosecutors and public officials leading the case, it is a glaring omission that Buttigieg and Gafa were not in court in person to throw their weight behind the proceedings, he added.

“By not being here they are undermining the prosecution and leaving [the public officials] by themselves,” Aquilina said. 

“This is happening after years of undermining the police force and the office of the attorney general. There has been a brain drain in these two offices that past commissioners - but especially Gafa and Buttigieg - must answer for.” 

He said that years of staff shortages and inadequate resources have brought these institutions to a place where they can no longer function properly. This clearly showed that Gafa and Buttigieg were not fit to hold the positions they did, he added. 

Gafa has also continually failed to conduct his own investigation into the hospitals deal, despite ample evidence of corruption emerging through journalists over the years. Buttigieg and Gafa must resign in order to ensure that people in their respective institutions can continue to do their jobs properly, Aquilina said.

Agius writes to European Commission

Meanwhile, PN MEP candidate Peter Agius has urged the European Commission to provide solid support for the Maltese judiciary.

"We need more effective measures to ensure the judiciary in Malta is supported by public authorities in the collection of evidence on investigations of corruption cases. This is in the interest of Maltese and Gozitans who have been defrauded by corrupt politicians at the expense of patients and vulnerable people," Agius said in a letter sent to Věra Jourová, European Commission Vice-President for Values and Transparency.

Agius referred to the European Commission's 2024 report on the Rule of Law, which will be released in a few weeks, saying that while the government has sent its submissions for this report, he is convinced that the Maltese Government is hiding the real picture in Malta.

Citing page 1,004 of the inquiry report, Agius showed how, in cases of corruption, fraud, bribery, and money laundering involving politicians, the government authorities refused to give access to documents to the magistrate.