If officer has to go, so does the judge

A court yesterday ruled that a top criminal investigator should not continue working on the probe into the murder of Daphne Caruana Galizia because he happens to be married to a government minister.

Valletta is a seasoned officer who has climbed up the ranks over the years. Up until now there has never been any reason to call for his ‘recusal’ but we feel that, in this particular case, which is so politically charged, this was the right decision.

We have written about this before and will say it again – we have absolutely no reason to believe that the fact that his wife is Gozo Minister Justyne Caruana has in any way dented his professionalism and integrity.

But justice must not only be done but also be seen to be done. This means that even if Valletta performs his duties in the investigation in the most professional and impartial manner, there will always be people who say that he was impartial, casting doubts on the entire investigation. And that should never happen – not in this case, not in any other.

Valletta, who holds the second highest rank

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in the police force after Police Commissioner Lawrence Cutajar, is also a member on the board of the Financial Intelligence Analysis Unit (FIAU), which is also directly and indirectly involved in a number of cases that were investigated by Daphne Caruana Galizia. This is another reason why he should ideally not be involved in the investigation. There is also the fact that the slain journalist had written about him on a number of occasions.

The Attorney General, who also has a conflict of interest as the chairperson of the FIAU, now plans to appeal the decision. One needs to wait and see what the outcome will be.

But the decision taken yesterday by Mr Justice Silvio Meli should be seen in a wider context. Simply put, if a police officer who is married to a minister cannot pursue a politically charged murder investigation, then a judge who is married to a Labour MEP should not be presiding over a case that is equally politically loaded.

We are speaking, of course, about the appeal filed by Prime Minister Joseph Muscat, his chief of staff, the tourism minister and the people at Nexia BT challenging a court decree saying that there should be a magisterial inquiry into the Panama Papers. The inquiry had been requested by former PN leader Simon Busuttil, and the request was upheld by Magistrate Ian Farrugia. The subjects of the would-be inquiry, however, have filed an appeal and the process remains stalled. That appeal is to be decided by Mr Justice Antonio Mizzi, who is married to Labour MEP Marlene Mizzi. The PN is calling for the judge’s recusal, insisting that there is a clear conflict of interest –which is certainly the case.

Once again, we do not doubt the Mizzi’s integrity, but such a sensitive case should not, and cannot be decided by someone who has such a clear link to a member of one of the involved parties – in this case, the PL.

Valletta is a police officer, an investigator. His role is to investigate and prosecute – to make his case before the courts and leave them to make a decision. Mizzi, on the other hand, IS the court.

It is quite clear that if the police officer has a conflict of interest, so does the judge. If one has to go, so should the other.