Earlier today during his interview with LabourToday, the Prime Minister took jabs at the prosecutors for using the article of criminal association in their charges. He was once again explaining why his government is against an Anti-Mafia bill.
Article 83A of the Criminal Code provides for the offence of promoting, constituting, organising or financing an organisation of two or more persons with a view to committing criminal offences liable to imprisonment for a term of four years or more, or of actively taking part in that organisation’s criminal activities (including by providing information, material means or recruiting members). Mere belonging to such an organisation is also an offence. The charge can land you up to 9 years of prison.
However, the terms: criminal association and criminal organisation are not defined in Maltese law. The previously PN proposed anti-Mafia bill included a description that went thus:
A criminal association is mafia-style when its members exercise the power to intimidate through membership ties, the state of control, and a culture of ‘secrecy’ which it fosters, to commit an offence, to acquire direct or indirect control over economic activities undertaken by them, to exercise direct or indirect control over economic activities, licencing, authorisations, public procurement or service contracts, or to obtain a profit or advantage for themselves or others, or to prevent or hinder the free exercise of voting rights, or to obtain votes for them or others in elections.
You can find the text here.
In his discourse today, the Prime Minister said that the prosecutors were applying the charge of criminal association too frequently and in most criminal cases and then went on to say that it is up to the Court to decide whether this is right or wrong.
The Prime Minister was putting strong emphasis on what he implied as the excessive use of the prosecutors of these charges.
At this stage, the Prime Minister should be brutally honest and admit that an Anti-Mafia law would severely affect the Labour Party due to its criminal networks and connections.
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