Muscat protects whistleblowers when it suits him – PN

The Nationalist Party yesterday said that Prime Minister Joseph Muscat protects whistleblowers only when it suits him. “When a whistleblower speaks up about others, Muscat says s/he’s a hero, but when a whistleblower speaks against Muscat, for Muscat s/he becomes a criminal and is subject to a campaign of intimidation and persecution,” it said.

The PN’s statement came in the wake of an explanation given by the Attorney General on the Egrant whistleblower Maria Efimova (read page 28), but does not refer to it directly.

The PN said that whoever uncovered information about a former Nationalist minister was awarded with contracts worth thousands of euros, but the whistleblower who uncovered information about the PM had no other option but to leave the country because she was intimidated and persecuted.

The PN said there is no doubt that the Egrant whistleblower was persecuted after she revealed “shocking details” on the Egrant owner.

Instead of being offered protection, Muscat opened up a campaign of attacks and intimidation that pushed the whistleblower to escape, the PN said.

Threats and intimidation were being made in public by the PM in his speeches and statements in a bid to attack the whistleblower's credibility, the PN said.

In the run up to the general election the Russian whistleblower claimed that she had seen documents held at Pilatus Bank, where she worked for a few months, which showed that Michelle Muscat, the PM’s wife, is the ultimate beneficial owner of Egrant, the mysterious third Panama Papers company. The PM and his wife vehemently deny the claims, which are subject of an ongoing magisterial inquiry.

In reaction, the Labour Party said Busuttil had linked his political career to a lie. The PN should respect the investigation, it said in a statement.

People saying the truth have no reason to escape, the PL said.