Joseph Muscat said he had no prior knowledge of the drug case at the Attard Labour Party club as he continued to defend his deputy leader Toni Abela yesterday.

Muscat accused the Prime Minister of knowing about the case for two years and using it for political gain

Dr Muscat insisted Dr Abela was a victim of “a defamatory” campaign by the Nationalist Party when asked about the case yesterday while visiting Manikata farmers and residents.

The Labour leader described the criticism over the way Dr Abela handled the drug-related case as a “coordinated attack”.

Asked how he would have acted in Dr Abela’s position, Dr Muscat said he would have reported the matter to the police if he had proof.

However, Dr Muscat avoided answering questions on whether Dr Abela’s behaviour was politically and morally correct when he failed to report the case to the police.

He also avoided answering questions as to whether Dr Abela’s position as deputy leader was tenable, choosing instead to attack the PN.

Dr Muscat accused the Prime Minister of knowing about this case for two years and using it now in an election campaign only for political gain.

The case revolves around suspected drug dealing at the Attard Labour club two years ago. The club president had caught someone cutting up drugs in the kitchen. He disposed of the drugs and reported the matter to Dr Abela, who holds the legal title for Labour’s clubs.

Dr Abela never reported the matter to the police and in a tape recording was heard to say: “A club president, a responsible man… found a man in the kitchen… who was cutting up a white block… That very day I sacked (the barman). I told him: ‘What do you want me to do, file a report at the police station to get you in trouble?’

“We caught them in the act because even he said he did not know what they were doing over there. Because it was him who got all the powder and threw it away. I said you removed the proof and only God knows what would happen if I went to the police... But I had clear and concrete proof.”

The issue came to public attention last week when the secret recording of Dr Abela surfaced on the internet.

It is the second recording of Dr Abela to emerge after on an earlier one he was heard to say that he had managed to stop the police proceeding over another incident at a club after he found “a Labourite policeman” at the station.

Dr Abela was accused by the PN of turning a blind eye to an illegal act and covering up the incident.

The police have said they investigated the matter thoroughly and found no case against Dr Abela.

ksansone@timesofmalta.com