Opposition leader Joseph Muscat yesterday appeared to dissociate himself from the accusations of political bias made by his deputy Anġlu Farrugia against Magistrate Audrey Demicoli.

“My position remains the same: we should be very careful in what we say about members of the judiciary and ensure their serenity,” Dr Muscat told The Times when asked how he reconciled Dr Farrugia’s allegations with his own previous calls for cool heads.

On Sunday, Dr Farrugia accused Magistrate Demicoli of being politically biased against the PL, citing a case in which she had acquitted a man of unduly pressuring employees to vote for the PN during the 2008 election.

The judgment was overturned on appeal and the man was fined €800 last week.

Although he did not actually mention her by name, Dr Farrugia clearly intimated that the magistrate, whose father was a Nationalist Party activist in the past, had been politically blinded in acquitting the man.

When pressed to say whether Dr Farrugia had spoken out of turn, Dr Muscat again urged caution.

“Just as I didn’t argue with the Prime Minister when his broadcasting channels tried to politicise other issues, I think we should all take a step back on this matter. The situation is already a sticky one as things are.”

However, he also noted that the Nationalist Party had “yet to react to the Appeals Court sentence, which found a man guilty of corrupt practices”.