Murder suspect Yorgen Fenech has formally urged President George Vella to intervene in his request for a pardon, stating that he is  ready to divulge information about former Ministers Konrad Mizzi and Chris Cardona, former OPM chief of staff Keith Schembri and other unnamed people.

“I am writing to you in the name of Yorgen Fenech, a person of interest in a murder investigation, and I refer to a request for him to be given a presidential pardon on condition that he divulges all information in his possession about a number of facts,” Fenech’s lawyer wrote yesterday.

“The information he is ready to offer concerns Keith Schembri, Konrad Mizzi, Chris Cardona and other people, all of whom are very close to the Prime Minister. Up until yesterday, all of these people had attended a Cabinet meeting.”

Fenech’s lawyer cited the Constitution, which states that the President can give pardons after receiving advice from Cabinet or from a Minister acting under the authority of Cabinet. He noted that Prime Minister Joseph Muscat went against these procedures when he unilaterally decided to grant a pardon to alleged middleman Melvin Theuma, without consulting his Cabinet.

“Seeing as these people are so close to the Prime Minister, it is clear that it shouldn’t be him or Cabinet members to provide these recommendations [on whether to give a pardon].”

He said Fenech has a right for his pardon request to be scrutinised by people who don’t have a direct interest in him not receiving a pardon and for his request to be evaluated in an objective and impartial manner that is free of political and personal interests.

“Yorgen Fenech would therefore like to express his concerns to you so that you can exercise and extend your constitutional powers for this particular circumstance.”

Moreover, he warned that the evidence he has against Schembri may be rendered inadmissible if he [Fenech] is prosecuted, and this on the grounds of regulations concerning the admissibility of testimony of co-accused people.