FILE PHOTO: Maltese businessman Yorgen Fenech, who was arrested in connection with an investigation into the murder of journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia, leaves the Courts of Justice in Valletta, Malta, November 28, 2019. REUTERS/Yara Nardi/File Photo
November 29, 2019
By Chris Scicluna
VALLETTA (Reuters) – Malta turned down a request on Friday to pardon a businessman over the murder of a journalist, in return for testimony his lawyers said would implicate senior government figures.
The family of journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia demanded Prime Minister Joseph Muscat resign after Muscat’s right-hand man Keith Schembri, arrested earlier this week in the case, was set free overnight.
After two years of stalled investigations, the authorities have moved rapidly in recent days in the case of Caruana Galizia, who was blown up with a car bomb in 2017 while working on reports about official corruption.
After a cabinet meeting that ended shortly before 3:00 a.m., Muscat’s government decided to reject a request for immunity from Yorgen Fenech, one of the country’s richest men, who was arrested last week while trying to leave Malta on his yacht.
Fenech was freed on police bail later on Friday morning. Police sources said he would be under close surveillance to ensure he does not flee.
Fenech’s lawyers have said he was prepared to give testimony against senior officials in return for immunity, including Schembri, who quit as Muscat’s chief of staff this week.
Schembri, who denies any role in the murder, was set free overnight by police who said they did not feel the need to detain him any longer after holding him for two days.
“We share Malta’s shock and anger at the release of Keith Schembri, the prime minister’s close personal friend and former chief of staff,” Caruana Galizia’s family said in a statement.
“At least two witnesses and multiple pieces of physical evidence implicate Schembri in the assassination of our wife and mother.”
Three men have been awaiting trial for setting the bomb that killed Caruana Galizia, but so far the authorities have failed to track down the person who hired them.
Angry supporters of the slain reporter’s family gathered outside the cabinet meeting in the early hours of the morning. As one minister was driven away, one of Caruana Galizia’s sons hurled fruit at his car and shouted obscenities.
COVER UP
The investigation focuses on Fenech, a businessman whose empire included property, retail, hospitality, gambling and energy companies. He handed the business reins to his brother a day before attempting to leave Malta on his yacht.
On Thursday night Fenech turned up at the Malta courts under police escort to file a constitutional application asking President George Vella to decide his pardon request, and not the cabinet, which he said had a conflict of interest.
In the letter to the president, Fenech’s lawyers said he was prepared to give information involving Schembri and two cabinet ministers – Tourism Minister Konrad Mizzi and Economy Minister Chris Cardona. Mizzi resigned on Tuesday and Cardona has suspended himself from his duties. All three deny wrongdoing.
In a separate case on Friday showing how the corruption allegations have closed in on the government, a court ordered Mizzi, Carduna and Finance Minister Edward Scicluna to face a criminal probe over the granting of a contract to run hospitals. The three all deny wrongdoing in that case.
Civil society groups and the opposition have called for Muscat to step down, saying he has protected his allies implicated in the murder investigation. Muscat refuses to quit.
“I will not abdicate my responsibilities. Malta needs stable leadership and I will continue to take decisions in the interests of the country and will not protect anyone,” he said.
Dunja Mijatovic, human rights commissioner for the Council of Europe, said she was “seriously concerned by recent allegations of political interference in the investigation” and called on Muscat to prevent the appearance of collusion.
The murder investigation has moved rapidly since a middleman suspected of introducing the killers to the person who hired them was arrested two weeks ago and granted immunity in return for testimony. Within days, police had arrested Fenech.
Before she was killed, Caruana Galizia had revealed the existence of a secret offshore company called 17 Black. A Reuters investigation last year revealed Fenech was the owner of the company, named in emails as a vehicle to fund secret Panama companies owned by Schembri and Mizzi. [ID:nL8N2874YL]
There is no evidence that money changed hands and Mizzi has said there are no links between him and Fenech’s company. Cardona has also denied involvement.
One of Fenech’s companies formed part of a consortium which was awarded a government contract in 2015 to build a power station. Other partners in that consortium included SOCAR of Azerbeijan and Siemens.
Siemens and SOCAR have both denied their staff was involved in wrongdoing. Since Fenech’s arrest, Siemens has said it tried to remove him from the board of the joint venture.
(Reporting by Chris Scicluna and Stephen Grey; Additional reporting by Francesco Guarascio; Writing by Chris Scicluna and Peter Graff; Editing by Giulia Segreti, Crispian Balmer and Peter Graff)
