The police commissioner’s declaration that all suspects in Daphne Caruana Galizia’s assassination have been caught doesn’t exclude the possibility of political interference after the murder, criminal lawyer Roberto Montalto has noted.

Interviewed on L-Erbgħa Fost il-Ġimgħa moments after Angelo Gafa’s declaration, Montalto, who used to be Caruana Galizia’s lawyer, urged people to look closer at statements made by the police commissioner and Prime Minister Robert Abela which exclude evidence of political involvement in the murder. 

“We must be careful – our Prime Minister is a lawyer who has worked with me in court so he knows well what words he’s using,” he said. “It could be that politicians weren’t involved in the murder but were involved in subsequent interference related to the murder.”

“The declarations by Gafa and Abela don’t mean they’re excluding politicians from the whole picture. They could have assisted after the murder; we’ve all heard these things.”

Montalto, who helped the government draft a new system to appoint police commissioners, had positive words for Gafa.

“I didn’t have the slightest doubt that the new mechanism would result in a good police commissioner being chosen,” he said. “It seems like we’re moving in the right direction; the police commissioner is doing everything his predecessor didn’t do.”

Gafa’s declaration came after police arrested Robert Agius, Adrian Agius, and Jamie Vella during a major operation yesterday. The three suspects, along with George Degiorgio, are being charged in court this evening in connection with the murders of both Caruana Galizia and lawyer Carmel Chircop.

You can follow a blow-by-blow account of the proceedings live here.

Do you believe all those involved in Daphne Caruana Galizia’s murder have been apprehended?