Earlier tonight, Yorgen Fenech filed a constitutional case to remove chief homicide inspector Keith Arnaud from the investigation into the assassination of Daphne Caruana Galizia.

This is what the main murder suspect is alleging under oath. 

1. Fenech is being investigated in connection with the murder of Daphne Caruana Galizia on 16th October 2017.

2. The murder investigations are being led by Inspector Keith Arnaud, along with the Police Commissioner and other high-ranking police officers.

3. Fenech has passed on incriminating information to the police concerning Keith Schembri, the Prime Minister’s former chief of staff.

4. Fenech feels it isn’t just that Keith Arnaud remains in charge of the investigation for the following reasons:

5. Fenech has information, based on what Schembri told him himself, that Inspector Arnaud had requested his [Schembri’s] help for his wife to be given a job. Indeed, his wife was given a job at Infrastructure Malta in January 2019 following direct instructions from Keith Schembri. This is according to what Schembri himself told Fenech.

6. Moreover, Inspector Arnaud was continuously keeping Keith Schembri updated about the investigation into Daphne Caruana Galizia’s murder. This is according to what Schembri himself told Fenech.

7. Proof of this emerges from recordings, which are in the police’s possession, of conversations between Fenech and Melvin Theuma. Fenech had got the information concerned from Keith Schembri, who had told him he had received it from Keith Arnaud.

8. Keith Schembri was given detailed information about the arrest of the Degiorgio brothers and Vince Muscat. Schembri passed this information on to Fenech and informed him he had received it from Arnaud.

9. At the entrance to the lock-up, Arnaud had approached Fenech and told him to act responsibly when implicating other people potentially involved in the case. Fenech asked him whether he was referring to Keith Schembri and the inspector replied that he was indeed.

10. Inspector Arnaud failed to call in Keith Schembri and this despite the police having, for several days, been in possession of proof – such as documents and recordings – which made repeated reference to Keith Schembri. It was only after Fenech informally gave the police this information that Arnaud was constrained to call in Schembri.

11. Schembri was arrested several hours after Fenech informally spoke to the police and revealed information about him and his involvement in the case. Indeed, Keith Schembri reportedly had the chance to visit Prime Minister Joseph Muscat’s private residence before the police got to interrogate him.

12. According to Fenech’s information, the police haven’t even conducted a search of Keith Schembri’s office at Castille.

13. Fenech requested the police commissioner to remove Arnaud from the case but his request was turned down.

14. This is being said in the context of Keith Schembri having made considerable efforts to undermine, condition and tamper with the investigations through desperate attempts to avoid being implicated in the case.

15. On 5th October 2018, the Constitutional Court decided to remove deputy commissioner Silvio Valletta from the case for far less serious reasons than these.

16. Fenech is ready to swear all of this under oath.

17. Fenech humbly believes that all of this constitutes a gross conflict of interest and goes against his right to a fair hearing.

18. One can refer to Articles 2 and 6 of the European Convention of Human Rights and Articles 33 and 39 of the Maltese Constitution.