VALLETTA (MALTA) (ITALPRESS/MNA) – The Maltese political establishment has been rocked by explosive accusations leveled by Judge Wenzu Mintoff against Prime Minister Robert Abela.
In a five-page letter sent this week to all government ministers, Mintoff claims that Abela “cares more about money than about an independent judiciary” and describes a private WhatsApp message exchange between the two.
The document lists a series of allegations related to the “rigging” for the appointment of the new Chief Justice and reconstructs a tense meeting between the judge and the prime minister on February 11. T
he most serious allegations, however, concern an incident prior to Abela’s appointment as prime minister. Mintoff alleges that, when Abela was a criminal lawyer and Labour MP, he pressured court staff during proceedings related to the 2015 Paqpaqli ghall-Istrina tragedy, in which dozens of people were injured when a racing car ploughed into spectators at an event organized by the Office of the President.
Abela represented one of the victims in proceedings presided over by Mintoff. According to the judge, the then-lawyer pressured registry officials to increase the taxable value of the case in order to increase his fees by “thousands” of euros.
The letter concludes with a request that Abela abstain from any discussion regarding the appointment of the next Chief Justice.
With the affair now public, the allegations have reignited debate over the separation of powers in Malta and the integrity of the process for appointing top judicial officials, paving the way for what could become one of the most serious political clashes of Abela’s premiership.
-Photo IPA Agency-
(ITALPRESS).
