A former South Australian MP has launched a lawsuit against Premier Peter Malinauskas claiming he led 'malicious prosecution', in an attempt to damage her reputation.
00:00This lawsuit has been filed by former South Australian MP Annabelle Digance, who is suing Premier Peter Malinowskis and the state of South Australia for $2.3 million.
00:15Ms Digance and her husband Greg have previously been charged with blackmail after they allegedly threatened to make accusations of misconduct against Mr Malinowskis back in 2020 when he was the leader of the opposition.
00:31Those charges were dropped in 2023.
00:33According to court documents filed in the Supreme Court on behalf of Ms Digance, she claims that she was maliciously prosecuted by the Premier, South Australian Police and the Department of Public Prosecutions.
00:47The documents go on to claim that Mr Malinowskis was motivated to maximise his own and South Australian Labor's prospects of success at the 2022 state election and that he or a member of the South Australian Police gave information to the media in an attempt to maximise public humiliation of Ms Digance.
01:09Now in response to these accusations, the Premier is challenging them.
01:14In a statement to the ABC, he says it's not surprising that they have chosen to take this course of action considering their previous behaviour.
01:23He says all I ever wanted is for the Digances to leave me alone.
01:27They won't distract me from delivering for the people of South Australia.
01:32The case is due to be heard in the Supreme Court on Wednesday.
