The Central Bank has announced that it is carrying out an investigation into allegations that a staff member was involved in leaking sensitive information to former shadow minister Tonio Fenech.
In a statement, the bank said that no disciplinary action had been taken as yet but that it had taken “the necessary precautionary measures to protect its internal records to enable a fair and effective investigation”.
The investigation follows allegations, which appeared on Sunday in It-Torċa, that three public officials at the Central Bank, the Malta Financial Services Authority (MFSA) and the National Statistics Office (NSO) had formed part of a Google Group that leaked information to Mr Fenech, who served as PN spokesman for finance between May 2014 and January 2015.
The Central Bank manager has since been placed on unpaid forced leave while the NSO official had been suspended on half pay, according to the Nationalist Party.
Giving an opinion doesn’t render you a spy
“Every person has a fundamental right to their own political beliefs and to associate themselves with any political party. It is a flagrant breach of human rights to intimidate, victimise or punish someone for that alone,” the party said, accusing the Prime Minister of political intimidation and discrimination for calling for action to be taken against the officials.
The PN is prepared to take the case before the European Central Bank and the European Commission over a breach of the independence of the Central Bank and the NSO.
Addressing the press, PN deputy leaders Mario de Marco and Beppe Fenech Adami said that no evidence had been put forward to suggest that sensitive information had been leaked or that Mr Fenech was given access to any information before it was passed on to the government.
The group, Dr de Marco said, was simply a “discussion forum” and one of many such forums within the party structure.
He added that the Public Service Management Code specifically encouraged “active participation in the political well-being of the country,” such that it was clear no laws had been broken.
“Every MP who doesn’t have a secretariat relies on a team of volunteers to assist them. Giving an opinion doesn’t render you a spy,” Dr de Marco said.
Dr Fenech Adami insisted the suspended officials had been persecuted for executing their freedom of expression and association, and called on the institutions involved “not to succumb to the Prime Minister’s threats” and to immediately reverse their decisions.