Malta’s PM refuses to quit amid scandal over journalist’s murder

Joseph Muscat accused of protecting allies in investigation into killing of Daphne Caruana Galizia

The Maltese government turned down a request from one of the island’s richest men on Friday for a pardon in return for his co-operation in the investigation into a journalist’s murder, after freeing a top official he was said to implicate.

After two years of stalled investigations, the authorities have moved rapidly in recent days in the case of journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia, who was killed by a car bomb in 2017 while working on reports about official corruption.

Her family responded with fury to the decision overnight to release from custody Keith Schembri, who quit this week as chief of staff to prime minister Joseph Muscat after being arrested in the case.

At a cabinet meeting that ended shortly before 3am, Mr Muscat’s government decided to reject a request for immunity by Yorgen Fenech, a businessman who was arrested last week while trying to leave Malta on his yacht.

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.

The arrest this week of Mr Schembri, the prime minister’s right-hand man, has entangled top officials in the case, and Caruana Galizia’s family accuse the government of a cover up.

Angry supporters of the 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.

Pardon request

The investigation focuses on Mr 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 Mr Fenech turned up at the Malta courts under heavy police escort to file a constitutional application asking president George Vella to decide his pardon request, and not the cabinet, because of conflict of interest.

In the letter to the president, Mr Fenech’s lawyers said their client was prepared to give information involving Mr Schembri and two cabinet ministers: tourism minister Konrad Mizzi and economy minister Chris Cardona. Mr Mizzi resigned on Tuesday and Mr Cardona has “suspended himself” from his duties. Both deny wrongdoing.

The court is due to consider Mr Fenech’s request on Friday afternoon.

Mr Muscat said the attorney general and the police had advised the government that there were no grounds for Mr Fenech to be granted a pardon. He had left the cabinet meeting to allow his colleagues to decide whether or not to grant the pardon to Mr Fenech without him in the room, Mr Muscat said.

The Malta police announced on Thursday night that Mr Schembri had been released and was no longer considered as a person of interest in the investigation.

Civil society groups and the opposition have called for Mr Muscat to step down, saying he has protected his allies implicated in the investigation. Mr Muscat has refused 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 told reporters.

Secret company

Matthew Caruana Galizia, one of the murdered journalist’s sons, said that a cover up was in the making and his family was being kept in the dark about developments in the case.

The 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 Mr 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 that Mr Fenech was the owner of the company, which was named in emails as being a vehicle to fund secret Panama companies owned by Mr Schembri and Mr Mizzi.

There is no evidence that money changed hands and Mr Mizzi has said there are no links between him and Mr Fenech’s company. Mr Cardona has also denied involvement.

One of Mr Fenech’s companies formed part of a consortium that 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 Mr Fenech’s arrest, Siemens has said it tried to remove him from the board of the joint venture. – Reuters