‘Stalking by sick minds’: Joseph Muscat on leaks of his travel plans

Joseph Muscat feels he is being “stalked by sick minds” as details of his travel plans are leaked on social media.

The former prime minister, who now faces serious fraud and corruption charges, addressed the rumours about his travels to China and Barbados in a reply to questions by Times of Malta yesterday.

“Quite frankly, the consistent leaks about my travels increasingly feel like stalking by sick minds,” he said.

Both during and also following his appearance in court on Tuesday, lawyer Jason Azzopardi and author Mark Camilleri said they were informed that Muscat was meant to be travelling to China and, then, to Barbados, where he will take 40 guests on an all expenses paid trip.

When Times of Malta contacted Muscat to explain whether the rumours are true, he confirmed he had travelled to China and was there right now on a work trip.

‘I am in China for work at the moment’

He said: “I am in China for work at the moment. And I will be travelling for work many more times in the coming months because I still need to work and most of my work happens to be outside Malta.

“Also, I do not pay for such trips because expenses related to business travels are covered by the client. It’s part of the work agreement and there’s nothing strange or wrong about that.”

He also said he gets paid for the work he does but cannot use the money due to the court’s freezing order.

On Tuesday, Azzopardi took to Facebook claiming that Muscat would be catching a 7.15 flight to Istanbul that evening and would be passing through the airport’s ministerial lounge.

He eventually missed that flight as the court hearing dragged on till 8.30pm.

Asked if he would be going to Barbados on holiday with 40 people, he did not deny this, but neither would he confirm it.

‘Nobody’s business where my family goes on holiday’

“It’s nobody’s business where my family goes on holiday. We plan our year in advance and have paid for travel long before the inquiry was concluded,” he told Times of Malta.

“Also, if there are other people on such trips, they pay out of their pockets. We don’t have the money to pay for other people.”

‘I never said I couldn’t pay for Netflix’

He also addressed recent criticism about a Netflix comment he made on ONE Radio two weeks ago.

In an interview with Labour stalwart Manuel Cuschieri, Muscat was arguing about how the court froze all his wealth when he said that “it’s a problem nowadays even to pay for Netflix”, as he would have to inform the court that he needs to make subscription payments.

On social media, however, several of his critics – including Azzopardi and Camilleri – hit out at him for saying he did not have enough money for Netflix but then seems to find the money to frequently travel abroad.

Muscat hit back on Friday, saying he never said he did not have enough money.

“I also never said I didn’t have enough money to pay for Netflix. But with the freezing order in place, I have to file an application to receive the legal limit, out of which I have to pay for my expenses,” he said.