Prime Minister Joseph Muscat should instruct his chief of staff Keith Schembri to accept any invitation he may receive from a group of visiting MEPs and give exhaustive replies to their demands for information, the Civil Society Network said.

The MEPs will visit Malta on Thursday on a fact-finding mission in connection with the state of the rule of law. They are expected to request meetings with various individuals and entities, including the prime minister, Mr Schembri, the police commissioner and the attorney general.

In February, Mr Schembri refused to meet the PANA Committee during its visit in Malta in connection with his alleged involvement in companies registered in  Panama.

Read: Indignant Pana committee chairman says request for Keith Schembri to testify was unanimous

"Whereas one understands that the Prime Minister and his Chief of Staff are friends and that this is not something wrong in itself, the Civil Society Network wishes to remind the Maltese public and in particular Joseph Muscat himself that in the oath which Joseph Muscat took before assuming office he solemnly swore and undertook to perform his duties as Prime Minister without fear or favour," the network said. 

It said it also expects Dr  Muscat to do anything in his power to persuade Brian Tonna and Karl Cini of Nexia BT to collaborate with the European Parliament representatives.

"Whereas one appreciates the fact that these individuals are bound by the duty of confidentiality in respect of certain matters, at the same time the Civil Society Network feels that since earlier this year Mr Brian Tonna was reported to have declared that he is the owner of Egrant Inc. and since one cannot be bound by the duty of confidentiality in his own respect, hence there is no legal impediment for Mr Tonna to pass on all the information in his possession in respect of Egrant Inc. to the representatives of the European Parliament," the network said. 

Civil Society Network will be holding a demonstration for Justice and the rule of  law on Sunday in Valletta. The main speaker will be Italian former anti-corruption magistrate Antonio Di Pietro.

Sign up to our free newsletters

Get the best updates straight to your inbox:
Please select at least one mailing list.

You can unsubscribe at any time by clicking the link in the footer of our emails. We use Mailchimp as our marketing platform. By subscribing, you acknowledge that your information will be transferred to Mailchimp for processing.