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6 maltatoday | SUNDAY • 27 MARCH 2022 OPINION 2 maltatoday EXECUTIVE EDITOR KURT SANSONE ksansone@mediatoday.com.mt Letters to the Editor, MaltaToday, Vjal ir-Rihan, San Gwann SGN 9016 E-mail: dailynews@mediatoday.com.mt Letters must be concise, no pen names accepted, include full name and address maltatoday | SUNDAY • 12 MAY 2024 Vitals: A story of two weights and two measures Editorial WHEN Keith Schembri, Adrian Hillman and sever- al others were charged with corruption and money laundering a few years back, they were first interro- gated and then arraigned under arrest. They even spent some time in jail since the magis- trate initially denied them bail. All those involved in that case have pleaded not guilty and proceedings against them are still drag- ging on in court. We bring up this case because it highlights the stark difference between how the police and the At- torney General acted back then and how they are behaving now. In the Vitals case – a far more serious matter that involves millions of euros of tax money that went to waste and lined the pockets of the few – the police have opted to charge all suspects by summons. The police did not have the temerity to call in Jo- seph Muscat, Konrad Mizzi, Edward Scicluna and Chris Fearne for questioning and arraign them un- der arrest. Instead, the police opted to charge them by summons as if this was an ordinary neighbourly dispute; or a case of road rage. The police and the AG may have legal and stra- tegic reasons for adopting this strategy. But from a layman's perspective, it sends out the message that the police have no interest in digging deeper and will simply be relying on the magistrate's inquiry for proof. Once again, from a layman's perspective, this could mean either of two things: The magistrate did such a meticulous job that handed the police and the AG a watertight case thus more than justifying the four years it took to conclude the inquiry; or else the prosecution is simply washing its hands of the matter by relying solely on the evidence secured by the magistrate with little or no concern if the case would falter on a technicality or lack of proof. The prosecution's strategy thus far has allowed Muscat to cry foul because he has not been given the chance to explain himself and provide evidence to the contrary. We have no doubt that he would have cried foul just the same but the two weights and two measures adopted by the police – in the Schembri-Hillman case and the Vitals case – justifi- ably raises eyebrows. The police must explain why it chose a different path in the Vitals case. We only hope that this strat- egy was not the result of pressure from Castille. Castille is already acting like a legal office at large in Muscat's defence even if the Prime Minister de- nies this. Robert Abela's mannerisms and words are those of a lawyer and not a prime minister. Suffice to say that Abela's comments to journalists earlier in the week in which he emphasised profuse- ly that the suspects in the Vitals case will remain free even after court proceedings start – a situation that came about because the prosecution decided to proceed by summons – suggest that Castille may be dictating how the prosecution conducts its busi- ness. We just hope this is not the case. Instead of taking Muscat's side, the Prime Minister should be working to restore credibility and steer the country diligently through the choppy waters. Within this context, Chris Fearne's resignation from deputy prime minister and Cabinet was the right thing to do. Fearne lived up to his own yard- stick of asking people answerable to him to step aside pending the outcome of investigations. When Fearne's campaign manager Carmen Cian- tar ended up in the line of fire because of corruption allegations reported in obscure Pakistani websites last year, she voluntarily suspended herself from head of the Foundation for Medical Services and asked the police to investigate her. The Ciantar case fizzled into thin air because the allegations proved to be false but the temporary suspension was testament to Ciantar's and Fearne's rectitude. By standing down from his Cabinet post and re- linquishing his nomination for European Commis- sioner, Fearne will allow the judicial process to pro- ceed serenely without the added pressure of having to deal with a member of the executive. But more importantly, in his resignation letter, Fearne showed respect to the institutions and not once did he try to denigrate the judiciary, while in- sisting he will prove his innocence in court. Fearne's example should be emulated by others in- dicated as suspects in the Vitals affair. For there is a sense of two weights and two meas- ures at play here. People in the employ of the civil service are nor- mally suspended when they face criminal charges. This time around the Prime Minister has said he will be making that judgement himself based on the inquiry findings. He insisted there will be no auto- matic resignations or suspensions for the public of- ficials who will be charged. The Prime Minister's attitude does not surprise us and goes some way in explaining the questionable Cabinet decision taken recently to lift suspensions on public service employees who are facing criminal charges. A beneficiary of this policy was a former top official at Transport Malta who is facing sexual harassment charges and who was reinstated at In- frastructure Malta. People like Edward Scicluna, the governor of the Central Bank of Malta, and permanent secretary Ronald Mizzi, should step down from their pub- lic roles pending the outcome of the cases against them. Quote of the Week "Here we are not dealing with the behaviour of some MP inside and outside the House, but the actions of a mother, father and other relatives of a youth who died when the building under construction at Corradino, collapsed… the BA dealt with it as ordinary business of the day… and when it finally delivered its decision, it provided no remedy and that resulted in its second gross failure." Judge Lawrence Mintoff when finding that the PN's rights were breached by national broadcaster PBS and the Broadcasting Authority. MaltaToday 10 years ago 11 May 2014 Enemalta probe: Police investigate misuse of funds by former chairman Alex Tranter FORMER Enemalta chairman Alex Tranter is being investigated by the police, MaltaToday has learnt. Tranter, appointed chairman of the state utility corporation by Nationalist minister Austin Gatt in 2005, is the subject of a parallel investigation by the Enemalta internal audit office over an alleged misuse of funds. This newspaper has been told that inves- tigators have focused on a sizeable chunk of expenditure that is "clearly unrelated to Ene- malta work". While police are working on audit work carried out by Enemalta's internal office, Mal- taToday is informed that matters of concern being flagged were the use of three cars for his private use. The most noteworthy investigation is being carried out on an exorbitant expenditure spree while travelling abroad – expenses which were covered by his Enemalta credit card. The investigation is looking into whether all the expenses were justified or linked to Enemalta work. Investigations f lagged a profligate prefer- ence for luxury hotels across Europe and the US – one hotel of which was said to have cost €1,500 in total expenses for the day – as well as his other expensive restaurant meals placed on the Enemalta bill. Tranter was chairman of Enemalta during which time the controversial decision to choose Danish firm BWSC for the supply of new turbines for an extension to the Delimara power station was taken. His conflict of interest – he was a business partner of BWSC's local agent Nazzareno Vassallo, of Vassallo Builders Group – was ignored by the investments ministry at the time. Tranter however did not attend board meetings discussing the BWSC tender. ...