MEP David Casa described “gross and intentional incompetence” throughout the Maltese government when it comes to upholding rule of law in a European Parliament plenary session on Thursday morning.

He criticised the Maltese state’s inaction and delays when delivering justice for assassinated journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia. “Five years have passed, and there have been zero prosecutions against people in power since then”.

The plenary session saw MEPs discussing the European Commission’s July 2022 report on the rule of law in member states. The session on Thursday morning specifically discussed the state of affairs in Malta, Greece and Spain.

The opposition Nationalist Party MEP said that the state would rather prosecute those who uncovered corruption, rather than the corrupt themselves, in a reference to the Maltese courts’ recent and expedited ruling on author Mark Camilleri publishing private WhatsApp chats between government MP Rosianne Cutajar and alleged Caruana Galizia assassination mastermind Yorgen Fenech.

Casa said that, in Malta, the state strives “to protect those in power so that those who are meant to serve the people can continue feeding their unbridled greed off the backs of the people”.

Following Casa’s speech, Labour MEP Alex Agius Saliba defended the court’s decision by saying it was a just ruling made in an effort to preserve the judicial process.

He insisted that the separation of powers must be upheld and that the documents published by Camilleri “had no right ever to be published”.

During his speech, Casa also mentioned the Maltese government’s fraudulent Vitals-Steward deal, saying “they exploit for their benefit even off the backs of the sick”.

He said that “the Maltese people deserve better” and appealed to the European Union to uphold rule of law in Malta and assure that the “institutions protect the Maltese and not those who betrayed them, prosecute the corrupt and not those who expose them”.