MUCH ADO ABOUT NOTHING IN MALTA ?

 

 The news about Schembri's arrest, while welcomed here, has to be treated with cynicism. Will he actually be charged, and if so, will his case go to trial in a relatively short period of time, and will be actually be sentenced and serve prison time ? I need to know that this activity is not just for MONEYVAL's benefit, and that it will dissipate in November. Please tell me the case is real. Little things bother me,; the failure to name one of the daughters in the freze order, Schembri's eleventh-hour flight to Milan, the four year delay in the arrest. It goes on and on.

I am reminded of the Maltese citizen who was sentenced to prison time; the court allowed him to attend university, on the campus, each day, while he was incarcerated, as a sort of school release program. Is that the functional equivalent of sitting in a prison cell, only sleeping there, as in a halfway house ? I doubt it.  Will Schembri be released each day, due to his power, wealth and influence ?

Listen, I may be totally wrong here, and if I am, I will apologize, but I do not see this arrest as solving Malta's long corruption and money laundering nightmare. Only arrests from a jurisdiction that is not susceptible to corruption, such as the United States or the UK, will make me happy, for those countries do not accept bribes to fix court cases.

Just so we are clear, the Schembri case will NOT affect, in any way, the American investigations currently underway. I have it on good authority that they are proceeding with all deliberate speed. Govern yourselves accordingly.