Rosianne Cutajar drops Mark Camilleri libel case avoiding court questioning

Ousted Labour MP Rosianne Cutajar dropped a libel court case launched over three years ago against author Mark Camilleri, avoiding court questioning in what she called “a change of priorities” in a statement on Facebook on Friday.

Cutajar dropped the case amid talks of her return to the Labour Party, fuelled by Prime Minister Robert Abela, and after failing to attend court sittings set for the case multiple times.

She had launched the libel suit following Camilleri’s claims that she had aided Yorgen Fenech, charged with involvement in the murder of Daphne Caruana Galizia, in influencing the Maltese parliament and the Council of Europe.

Cutajar was unceremoniously kicked out of the Labour Party following Camilleri’s leak of hundreds of WhatsApp chats revealing an intimate relationship between her and Fenech.

In her statement on Friday, Cutajar said her priorities had changed and noted her intentions for a return to the Labour parliamentary group.

She said she felt “it is not useful and important to go on with the legal procedures.”

Now that the case has been dropped, court questions into Cutajar’s relationship with Fenech and his potential influences on her politics will not have to be answered by the Labour MP.

Publicly available court documents show how Cutajar failed to attend sittings multiple times, citing medical reasons for herself and her legal representation.

In one sitting, the registrar noted that “The court deplores the fact that [Cutajar] has failed to obey the order [to appear in court].”

In a blog post on Friday, Camilleri called Cutajar’s dropping of the suit a “clear admission of guilt,” calling her “one of the many corrupt politicians who used her political position and status to connive and conspire” with Fenech.

Last month, Prime Minister Robert Abela claimed Cutajar’s position was being “reconsidered” despite the multiple scandals around her.

Following the publication of the leaked WhatsApp chats, The Shift revealed Cutajar’s backdated consultancy contract with the Institute of Tourism Studies.

The contract’s irregularity was later confirmed in a report by the National Audit Office, which found it “fraudulent” and “contrived.”

Despite calls for the police to investigate and arrest Cutajar and those who aided her, no action has yet been taken.