The police are investigating claims that lawyers, a priest and the family of the Nadur men accused of raping a 14-year-old girl tried to prevent her from taking the matter to court.
All the police would say in reply to a list of questions about the matter was that investigations were under way. This is the first official confirmation of the investigations since the bribery allegations were first made by The Sunday Times just under two weeks ago.
The weekly newspaper reported the mother of the girl saying that a lawyer and close relatives of the accused had persuaded her to sign a contract stating that members of her family would not testify in court in return for €7,000 in "psychological support".
The defendants, brothers Peter Paul and Josef Said, stand accused of raping the girl. Mark Lorry Said and Peter Paul Debono were charged with her defilement. They are all under house arrest.
The girl's mother said they were approached by close relatives of the Said brothers and a priest, who acted as an intermediary, shortly after the rape and defilement allegations were made last month.
After the family pressed ahead, on the day the men were arrested, the girl's mother said another approach was made - this time by two different lawyers (one from Gozo and another from Malta) who said they wanted to "see if they could come to an arrangement" over the arraignment of the men. The woman immediately called a family acquaintance and the men left.
The woman said she told the investigating police inspector about the contract and the second attempt to stop the claims from reaching the courts. However, to date, it remains unclear whether an investigation has been launched into the matter. The Times asked whether the police had launched an investigation after being told about the alleged approach, which, if proven, is illegal.
A police spokesman said yesterday that "...investigations have been taken in hand immediately upon receipt of the information. As you may well appreciate, no further information can be furnished at the moment since the investigation is still ongoing".
The case was raised by Chief Justice Vincent De Gaetano in a judgment last week through which he imposed stricter bail conditions on the accused. The Chief Justice noted that there seem to have been "manoeuvres by people who had an interest to see that the case does not reach the courts. It seems that, before the accused were charged in court, money changed hands in order for there to be withdrawal of the complaint (in respect of the accused bearing the Said surname)".
Following the judgment and the Sunday Times stories, the matter was also raised in Parliament by Labour MP Evarist Bartolo.
When asked to comment about the issue, a spokesman for the Home Affairs Ministry said: "We are aware that this case is already subject to judicial proceedings. During these proceedings, the court already made reference to the allegations you mentioned. The Ministry for Justice and Home Affairs has full confidence in these proceedings and sees no reason to comment about them or matters that are ancillary to them".