Yesterday, the Labour government handed organised crime a resounding victory by disarming the Office of the Attorney General. Deputy Attorney General and the prosecutor who has handled Yorgen Fenech’s case, Philip Galea Farrugia has been appointed Magistrate. Philip Galea Farrugia was the last highly-skilled criminal prosecutor in the AG’s Office. Now, the Office of the AG is staffed by inexperienced lawyers who are still in their twenties, with most of the new recruits being novice lawyers who have just graduated, and some of them not even having a warrant. These prosecutors are supposed to be fighting Malta’s organised criminal groups, and of course, they don’t have police protection so we can assume they are putting off a very good fight against organised criminals without any fear or favour.
Philip Galea Farrugia had shown interest in the post of Attorney General but was passed over for the corrupt and horribly incompetent Victoria Buttigieig. A couple of years ago, Philip Galea Farrugia made his thoughts quite public in a Facebook post that he then deleted venting his frustration and anger at the state’s and the police’s inaction over corruption and their failure to investigate Joseph Muscat and his political associates. As one would expect, given his principled position, he didn’t strike a chord with Victoria Buttigieg, and they grew apart over the years, increasingly despising each other.I don’t blame him. Victoria Buttigieg is indeed, an insufferable, corrupt, and imbecilic charlatan and I also know this from personal experience as a previous government executive.
So, who is going to replace Philip Galea Farrugia as prosecutor in Yorgen Fenech’s case? If we would take the prosecutors present in the latest court appearance of Yorgen Fenech as a guide, then the case may very well be handed over to none other than Anthony Vella, the same prosecutor who made the unforgivable mistake that led to the prosecution losing their bribery case against their former colleague, turncoat and Yorgen Fenech’s lawyer, Charles Mercieca.
Malta has lost its last state bastion against organised crime. It’s all well and good that the judiciary is strengthened but Philip Galea Farrugia was not made Magistrate to strengthen the judiciary: he was made Magistrate to deplete the Office of the Attorney General of the last reference Malta had against organised crime. The disarmament of the Office of the Attorney General is now complete and Victoria Buttigieg and the Justice Minister are enabling the further dysfunction of the Office of the AG by replacing their stalwarts with novice lawyers.
The disarmament of the Office of the AG has been an ongoing process under Labour. The last high-profile prosecutor to have been appointed Magistrate was Elaine Rizzo who also happens to be John Rizzo’s daughter (previous Police Commissioner) and the previous prosecutor prosecuting Keith Schembri. Yet, the process of disarmament is not complete. Philip Galea Farrugia’s replacement may happen to be someone even worse than Victoria Buttigieg herself. Kevin Valletta, the brother of the disgraced former Police Assistant Commissioner Silvio Valletta, is being considered as the new Deputy Attorney General.
The situation is only getting darker under a Labour government as the opportunities and victories for organised criminals only get bigger.
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