Abela does not exclude action against 'vindictive' Bernard Grech over 'perjury' in Vitals funds case
Prime Minister Robert Abela on Thursday accused Nationalist Party leader Bernard Grech of being “vindictive” and of committing a criminal act in the form of perjury, and did not exclude taking legal action against his political counterpar
Prime Minister Robert Abela on Thursday accused Nationalist Party leader Bernard Grech of being “vindictive” and of committing a criminal act in the form of perjury, and did not exclude taking legal action against his political counterpart over it.
Abela said that Grech had perjured himself by insisting in a court case which was decided this morning that the Prime Minister had been criminally involved in the hospitals deal, when three separate courts had said otherwise.
He said that Grech had “committed a criminal act” and that there was no way that he could manoeuvre his way out of this.
Abela addressed a press conference on Thursday at his office in Castille around an hour after a court threw out the PN’s case where it attempted to get the State Advocate to file legal proceedings to recoup the €400 million paid to the hospital concessionaires Vitals Global Healthcare and Steward Health Care.
Abela said that Grech’s case had two principle aims: to show that the PN leader “was ready to be vindictive on a personal level” against the Prime Minister, Fearne, and the civil service; and to upturn the constitution.
Speaking on the first, Abela said that Grech’s case was against him, Cabinet and the civil service in their personal capacity, something he said was intended to “scare me and the government from continuing to work for the people.”
“The scaremongering extended to public health officials… this is clear from the court applications that he filed with the case. They wanted to stop public officials from doing their jobs and to make then afraid that even if they act in good faith, he was still ready to sue them personally,” Abela said.
He accused Grech is being a hypocrite on this: “In the media he says he wants to protect the civil service, but in court he attacks them.”
Abela continued that the scope of Grech’s case was to turn the constitutional and legal functions of the State Advocate “upside down” by trying to “force” the court to order the State Advocate to “take personal steps against a number of government officials.”
In order to reach this end, Abela said that Grech had committed perjury. He had done this by attributing criminal offences to him when every court sentence on the hospitals deal, and the magisterial inquiry on the same deal, had excluded him from having committed such offences.
“This is political vindictiveness,” he said. “If there are shortcomings, then people must answer for them - but these are intimidation tactics; threats that even our children can be attacked. These are unacceptable tactics, and I can never remember an Opposition leader in our political history who has resorted to such tactics,” he said.
Abela said that the government had made its arguments in the most respectful of manners in court, and the final judgement confirms “how loyal and correct” the government’s defence had been.
The Prime Minister continued to emphasise on his accusation that Grech had committed perjury, saying that Grech had persisted in his assertions despite the courts pronouncing themselves otherwise on three occasions, and despite the National Audit Office also saying otherwise.
Questioned about this assertion by the media, Abela doubled down and said that Grech had “committed a criminal act” by clearly committing perjury, “and there is no way that the Opposition leader is going to get out of it.”
On whether he felt the Attorney General should take criminal action against the PN leader on this, Abela replied: “Not just the AG, I am not excluding any form of action.”
He said that this past week people were rightly shocked with allegations which emerged that Chris Fearne had been subject to a €6.5 million smear campaign, but added that Grech’s behaviour is “just as shocking” as he continued to carry out the “harshest of attacks” against Fearne.
Moving onto Steward itself, Abela said that the government is doing everything required of it in international arbitration proceedings against the former hospital concessionaire. “Instead of collaboration with us, the PN tries to act like it doesn’t exist,” Abela said.
“The PN doesn’t want justice, but it wants to win political capital,” he said, adding that if the party was to continue playing this game then the government will continue to stand strong against them.
Justice Minister Jonathan Attard meanwhile said that the case decided on Thursday must be taken within the context of the PN’s “legal threats and attacks” against the Attorney General, State Advocate, and Police Commissioner.
“This case itself was an attack against the courts. The Opposition tried to compromise the courts by making it act in breach of the Constitution, but the court made it clear that it will not be complicit in this,” he said.
Asked by The Malta Independent at what stage the international arbitration proceedings at the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) were, Attard said that Maltese government had, after it filed its counter-requests, now filed the amounts which it believes should be paid back to the Maltese State.
Asked to quantify those amounts, Attard said the ICC proceedings are confidential and revealing such details may compromise the case.
Also asked how the government plans to recoup any money when Steward’s parent company in the United States has declared bankruptcy, Attard assured that all action is being taken so that whatever is ruled in Malta’s favour in monetary terms will make it to the country’s coffers.
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