A week is indeed a long period in politics, let alone 15 months,  during which time the Prime Minister has been accused of all imaginable crimes under the sun.

The brutal murder of Daphne Caruana Galizia fuelled the narrative and, basically, every major news agency that reported the gruesome act mentioned the Egrant accusations, with some even implying the Prime Minister’s possible involvement in the  murder itself after being fed by the usual local suspects.

Nobody can understand what the Muscat family went through during this period. Having your reputation unjustly tarnished in this way all around the globe is not something one can easily comprehend.

When the target is the Prime Minister it goes without saying that the ultimate casualty is our country, its reputation, the economy, jobs, investments. All these were put in jeopardy. Fortunately, during these 15 months, the Prime Minister remained focused, together with his government, and our economy forged ahead at record levels, backed by a new, record mandate following last June’s election.

Many are now calling for justice. I am one of them. The magisterial inquiry found, among other things, that the supposed proof was forged – falsified documentation aimed at destroying Joseph Muscat, his family, the Labour Party and our country.

The story was published first on the late Caruana Galizia’s blog and, within minutes, NET television was broadcasting a dedicated programme, with camerapersons and journalists already dispatched around the country hounding Michelle Muscat, the Police Commissioner and the Pilatus Bank owner, among others.

The plan was all set.

Simon Busuttil was Nationalist Party leader at the time, and accusations levelled against him that he made this lie his own are being very economical with the truth.

No, he did not just repeat the lie. It is more than evident that he was either the prime mover or one of the main culprits in the whole story.

The rule of law crusaders believe the law applies to everyone except themselves

Was he aware that the documentation was forged? Was he an accomplice in the forgery? No reply from Busuttil himself will suffice. A thorough investigation is needed to determine who was behind this episode, which will go down in history as our country’s darkest chapter in the post-Independence era.

Busuttil’s acolyte, Karol Aquilina, had the gall to claim that any legal action against Pierre Portelli would be tantamount to a frame-up, something Busuttil himself eventually tweeted as well, singing from the same hymn book.

Aquilina and those like him think  that they are above the law, self-anointed individuals with an infinite degree of  self-righteousness that borders on the delusional. The rule of law crusaders believe that the law applies to everyone except themselves.

Speaking of Portelli, one cannot but notice Adrian Delia’s two-weights, two-measures approach when he is asked about his right-hand man, who seems to be cosying up once again to the Busuttil clan after last summer’s falling out.

Delia cannot delude himself by simply singling out Busuttil.

The people who made it possible for him to become Nationalist Party leader were all very involved in this whole saga from its inception and they too must answer for their actions.

Soon after the findings of the inquiry were published and the tower of lies came crumbling down, another crusader, by the name of David Casa, played his desperate card and published what he claims is a leaked document of the Financial Analysis Intelligence Unit.

The FIAU reacted by stating, among other things, that the published text had been “retyped, with several discrepancies, omissions and inaccurate reproductions of text”.

Publishing an FIAU investigation is a crime punishable with up to five years’ imprisonment. My guess is that publishing a stolen investigation that has been tampered with is even more serious.

Casa was well aware of the implications of publishing such a document and might have done so exactly for that reason, in the hope of clinging on to his European seat come next May, for which he is totally unfit.

Whatever the implications and Casa’s motives, the law is the law and should be applied equally for everybody. If the crusaders want to defend a very serious crime, then so be it.

I, among thousands of others, will not rest until justice takes it course.

Daniel Micallef is president of the Labour Party.