The family of Daphne Caruana Galizia are more interested in their "repugnance" for the country than finding those who are criminally responsible for the assassination of the journalist, MP Robert Abela said during a fiery adjournment speech in parliament this evening, rubbishing claims made by Opposition MP Jason Azzopardi.

Abela was speaking a day after Azzopardi questioned whether Abela had access certain phone records he should not have had access to after an MEP report a indicated that “a government MP had illegal access to, or was given classified information illegally, and is aware of what certain phone intercepts contain."

During his speech, Abela clarified that he was merely quoting the public statements made by the Malta Security Service and the police six weeks prior.

“In Sven Giegold and Ana Gomes the PN have found two allies who believe anything they say,” he said.

He was steadfast in saying that these were baseless allegations, something which he said was becoming more and more common with the Opposition. 

He also expressed his dismay with the spin from Azzopardi that Abela somehow had access to the phone records involved in the case of the assassination and that the Prime Minister was somehow involved.

Abela claimed that Caruana Galizia’s family and Azzopardi, who is appearing as parte civile on behalf of the family in the case, are using their closeness and access to the investigation to further their own political agendas.

“This becomes more and more clear with every statement that is made,” Abela said.

He also said that these continued statements are only further damaging the prosecution’s case.

“Logic would say that the parte civile and the prosecution would work together. The prosecution is working tirelessly to find the truth and the guilty party. It is clear that [Azzopardi’s] interests supercede the true interests of the group he should be representing.”

PN MP Mario Galea took umbrage with the remarks, further criticising Abela for making the claims in a forum where the family could not defend themselves.

Abela also asked whether it was true that Azzopardi may have met with the Magistrate overseeing the inquiry into the assassination outside of the courtroom.

“I am waiting for a clarification from Azzopardi. This is manipulation and pressure on the process.”

Azzopardi's reaction

Reacting, Jason Azzopardi said the Labour MP was willing to do everything so that there would be no justice for Daphne Caruana Galizia and her family. “I am proud to be doing the opposite. No Robert Abela and no Joseph Muscat will stop me,” he wrote in a Facebook post.

The Transport and Infrastructure Ministry said on Monday evening that Joseph Bugeja has been nominated by Minister Ian Borg to serve as Chairman of Transport Malta.

“This nomination will be submitted by Minister Borg to the President of the Public Appointments Commitee. The Minister will be requesting that his nomination be passed on to the same Committee for scrutiny, as requested by law,” the ministry said.

Joseph Bugeja is well known in the maritime industry, where he served different roles for many years related to this sector.

He held the position of General Manager of Sea Malta for 7 years and served also as CEO and board member within the Malta Maritime Forum from the year 2016 to date.

Bugeja will be resigning from every post that he currently holds, so as not to give rise to possible conflicts of interest, the ministry said.

Bugeja will be replacing James Piscopo. The former Labour Party CEO will resign his post and become Chief Executive Officer of the Lands Authority. His appointment was announced this week, despite an earlier denial by the transport ministry.

Only 4 out of 70 thefts that were reported in Gozo this year have been solved, Home Affairs Minister Michael Farrugia has revealed. 

Replying to a parliamentary question tabled by MP Chris Said, Farrugia tabled figures related to theft, drug trafficking, and other crimes from January to May of this year.

The figures showed that 3 persons had been caught trafficking drugs in Gozo. One of the offenders has already appeared in court, while the other two are awaiting their first appearance.

Seven persons have been caught smoking in nightclubs.

A request to discuss a petition calling for the removal of V18 Chairman Jason Micallef in front of the Cultural Committee of the German Parliament was shot down by the Chairperson of the Parliamentary Group on the European Capital of Culture, PL MP Clayton Bartolo.

MP Therese Commodini Cachia tabled the request to discuss the petition tabled by over 100 local artists to Prime Minister Joseph Muscat and Culture Minister Owen Bonnici, calling for Micallef’s resignation, as was reported in The Malta Independent.

Bartolo argued that the request should have been addressed to the Committee itself had it wished for it to be discussed on this platform.

“These local artists are more than welcome to send a petition here and their request will be met,” he said. “Beyond that, Bonnici and [Parliamentary Secretary for V18] Deo Debattista have made their positions clear.”

Commidini Cachia, while saying that she will respect the decision, stressed that she was against the ruling.

Micallef has been at centre of a public storm, receiving a tirade of condemnation from local and foreign artists, politicians and those linked with the EU’s capital of culture both internationally and locally after he ridiculed the last words of assassinated journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia amid ongoing calls from anti-corruption protestors and members of civil society for government to be held accountable.

“The situation is desperate. There [are] happy people everywhere you look,” Micallef wrote on St Patrick’s day this year.

As the criticism and anger mounted against Micallef for making such comments, he, along with Muscat and, continuously pointed to freedom of expression to defend his language.

The newsroom previously reported how local and international artists, and famous writers such as Ewan McGregor hailing from PEN International condemned Micallef for his commentary, criticising him for failing to champion European values, calling for his removal.

They had specifically called out his harsh opposition of banners hung around Valletta calling for justice for the murder of Caruana Galizia, where Micallef repeatedly ordered their removal; along with his repeated offensive remarks against Caruana Galizia and her supporters on social media.

Most recently, eight past and future representatives of the European Capital of Culture have called out Micallef for ridiculing European Values. Ulrich Fuchs, the Chairman of the committee that monitored  Valletta as European Capital for Culture in 2018, saying that he would not attend any V18 event "as long as people representing the project destroy European values."

Valletta Mayor Alexiei Dingli has also disassociated himself from the V18 Foundation, over Micallef’s behaviour.

A representative of an international sports cars licencing body has contradicted the findings of the magisterial inquiry into the 2015 Paqpaqli Ghall-Istrina crash in which 23 people were injured, telling a court that driver Paul Bailey had the highest level of driving certification possible.

Testifying by Skype this morning, Sir Simon Blunt, the General Secretary of the Motor Sports Association (UK), told magistrate Aaron Bugeja that Bailey held a National licence B, National licence A and an International licence C - described as the highest form of racing licence that could be given for GT racing. This contradicts the conclusion reached by magistrate Consuelo Scerri Herrera who had partly blamed Bailey’s “lack of experience in professional driving”, noting the use of excessive speed and a lack of handling techniques or corrective measures.

The surprising development comes as the legal wrangle over the incident which left 23 injured, some of them critically, continued in court today and yesterday.

The 13-member core organising committee for Paqpaqli ghall- Istrina, Paul Bailey, Tonio Darmanin, Tonio Cini, Agostino Degiorgio, Jonathan Tonna, Kevin Perry, Melvin Haber, Ian Keith Cilia Pisani, Jonathan Bruno, Julian Mannara, Christopher Sultana, David Bugeja and Brian Gatt are accused of involuntarily causing grievous bodily harm, as well damage to various motor vehicles, through imprudence, carelessness and non-observance of regulations.

The defendants are arguing that the blame for the incident lied with the event organisers, for ignoring safety concerns and letting the public stand at dangerous areas of the track behind crash barriers which were not fit for purpose.

The event organisers, including the Malta Community Chest Fund insist that the accident was Bailey’s fault, previously arguing that he was not qualified to drive the Porsche 918 Spyder.

The case continues.

Police inspectors Josric Mifsud, Silvio Magro and Hubert Cini are prosecuting.

Lawyers Giannella DeMarco and Stephen Tonna Lowell are counsel to Paul Bailey.

Lawyer Joe Giglio is counsel to Tonio Darmanin. Lawyer Stefano Filletti is counsel to Brian Gatt and Julian Manara.

Lawyer Arthur Azzopardi is defence counsel for Ian Cilia Pisani, Kevin Perry and Chris Sultana. Other members of the Paqpaqli team are being assisted by Dr Michael Sciriha, Dr Raphael Fenech Adami and Dr Albert Zerafa.

Franco Debono, Amadeus Cachia, Roberto Montalto, Michael Grech, Shazoo Ghaznavi, Alessia Zammit Mackeon and Reuben Farrugia are among the lawyers appearing parte civile for the victims.