Updated with reaction by Julie Zahra.

Under-fire Culture Minister Owen Bonnici has questioned whether his Opposition counterpart, Julie Zahra, was aware of a sexual harassment scandal at Malta's national orchestra months before it became public. 

In a swift response, Zahra said she wasn't aware, and had she been told anything, she would have gone straight to the police. 

During what became a heated question session in Parliament on Tuesday, Bonnici said he is aware that Zahra had travelled with the Malta Philharmonic Orchestra to attend a concert in Bratislava back in May. 

“When she travelled with the orchestra, was she aware of this case? Did members of the orchestra open up to her about the situation, and if they did, what did she do about this,” Bonnici asked. 

In recent days the national orchestra has made headlines after an MPO official was arraigned for sexually harassing a member of the national orchestra. The court heard that the victim had reported the assault to her superiors, but it had been ignored, forcing her to leave the post. 

Days later, MPO’s CEO Sigmund Mifsud was charged in court with attempted tampering of evidence after he allegedly instructed employees to keep quiet about the sexual harassment scandal.

The Nationalist Party has called for Bonnici’s resignation, saying he had failed to pass information on to the police when he was first informed of the case and alleging that he had called the PN-owned Net newsroom to try and “control” the story. 

Bonnici: 'What applies to me also applies to you'

During Tuesday's parliamentary debate, Bonnici was asked by a number of PN MPs whether he had gone to the police as soon as he found out about the sexual harassment case. 

Bonnici has previously denied having in any way tried to cover the sexual molestation case and said he had written to the commissioner against gender violence regarding the case. He again repeated this on Tuesday.

He questioned whether Zahra had knowledge about the scandal during her time abroad with the orchestra, and if she did, what actions she took. 

“What applies for me, also applies for you,” he said, referring to the criticism he has received in recent days. 

Zahra also asked Bonnici why he called a Net News journalist to try and "cover-up" the story.

Bonnici said the PN was trying to "fool people with such claims." 

"I called the journalist because something that had been reported was incorrect," he said. "At that time the journalist had the opportunity to ask me any question they wished." 

He said the Opposition is trying to fool the public into thinking he was trying to "kill a story". 

"The only thing they are killing is their credibility," he said.

PN MP Claudette Buttigieg asked for Bonnici to publish the letter that he sent to the Commissioner for Gender Violence, yet Bonnici said doing so would break the confidentiality of the victim. 

"So after this person has opened up about their difficulties, you want me to go public and publish their details?" Bonnici asked.

Buttigieg clarified that the name can be censored and that the Opposition is asking for the letter to see when it was written. 

"All I can say is that the institutions are working," Bonnici said.

Julie Zahra denies minister's claim

In a reaction, Zahra denied the minister's claims.

"No one spoke to me about the case while in Bratislava. Owen Bonnici is simply lying and trying to avoid shouldering responsibility," she said in a statement.

"Rest assured that if someone gave me a hint about any abuse, I would have gone straight to the police and reported the persons involved," she said.