Magistrate Nadine Lia has been forced to recuse herself from a case brought by NGO Repubblika against the police over their refusal to prosecute Pilatus Bank officials.
The decision to recuse herself is of course, very damning. Magistrate Nadine Lia decided to preside over a case over which she has an indirect conflict of interest through her father-in-law, Pawlu Lia apart from having excessive political bias on the matter (Nadine Lia defended and apologized for the corruption of Joseph Muscat’s friends during the general election campaign of 2017). Pilatus Bank was one of the many factors in the extensive corrupt schemes of Joseph Muscat and his friends and Pawlu Lia, who is Joseph Muscat’s lawyer also happens to be Nadine Lia’s stepfather.
Can you imagine being a government critic or a member of the opposition and having your case judged by her after she attempt to distort the course of justice by presiding over a case that she had no business in deciding? She defended Joseph Muscat’s corruption and is a well-trusted ally of his mafia. These people have practically no inhibitions in acting mafia-like either.
I for one will definitely not feel that justice is being served if I appear in front of her. And it’s very worrying that we have to contend with the mafia’s influence in the law courts – a space which supposedly should give us respite and justice from the constant jungle rules we are forced upon by our criminal and authoritarian government.
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