Opposition leader Simon Busuttil today hit out at what he said were “fascist” attempts by the government to try to silence him.
Addressing a press conference hours after the Prime Minister’s chief of staff Keith Schembri filed a criminal complaint against him, Dr Busuttil slammed the “politically motivated actions” against those who sought to uncover corruption.
Mr Schembri’s criminal complaint was filed after the Opposition leader asked the courts for a magisterial inquiry to investigate money-laundering allegations stemming from the Panama Papers.
Dr Busuttil said his court application for a money-laundering investigation was based on publicly-available information.
Instead of investigating Mr Schembri for corruption, Dr Busuttil said the police would now be investigating the Opposition leader for fighting corruption.
He said the country was now in an unprecedented situation, where an Opposition leader was being dragged before the courts on a baseless accusation at the behest of the government.
In his criminal complaint, Mr Schembri accused Dr Busuttil of lying under oath.
The Opposition leader cautioned that Mr Schembri’s actions were not just about an attack on an individual.
He said the actions by the Prime Minister’s chief of staff were more reminiscent of a dictatorial country, where the police silenced all those who opposed the government.
Dr Busuttil said that not only had the police become used to not investigate corruption claims, they were now also be ing used to take action against those who exposed corruption.
“I will continue this fight, today as Opposition leader, and after that as an MP and a citizen. I will continue this fight until democracy and justice wins”, Dr Busuttil vowed.
He said no election win could justify today’s actions by the government.
Dr Busuttil appealed to the media, civil society, the EU and all people of good will to speak out against what had happened.
The Opposition leader said he was doing everything within his powers to ensure these cases were investigated after the country’s institutions had failed to do their job.
“Let us not give up on justice, otherwise democracy will be endangered even further”, Dr Busuttil said.