Labour leader Joseph Muscat is continuing to defend former Nationalist Party councillor Cyrus Engerer, insisting that “a personal court case” was not reason enough to bar him from representing the Labour Party.

Mr Engerer, who is currently facing criminal proceedings on accusations that he distributed naked images of his former partner, was in Brussels last week attending a convention organised by the European Socialist Party.

But when asked whether he felt it appropriate that Mr Engerer should represent the Labour Party in an international forum or any other forum, a spokesman for Dr Muscat replied with a question: “Since when should someone be barred from attending a public activity on the basis of a personal case in court?”

The spokesman said the official delegation was made up of Dr Muscat, who was invited to address the convention, foreign affairs spokesman George Vella, gender equality spokesman Helena Dalli and the party’s international secretary Alex Sciberras Trigona.

“Young progressive activists from all over Europe had an open invitation to attend the first edition of this event and Cyrus Engerer was one of 10 young Maltese activists who took up the invitation to attend the progressive convention,” the spokesman said.

Mr Engerer’s case is currently being heard behind closed doors and although last month his former partner filed a note in the records of the case in which he renounced criminal action, the police may still proceed given the nature of some of the charges.

Mr Engerer ended up in the eye of the storm when he defected to the Labour Party after the Prime Minister voted against the divorce law in Parliament.

Days later criminal charges were filed against Mr Engerer. A government-appointed inquiry did not rule out a link between the filing of charges against Mr Engerer and his resignation from the PN, although the judge found no evidence of irregularity in the police action.

ksansone@timesofmalta.com