Former Prime Minister Joseph Muscat told his chief of staff Keith Schembri to contact Yorgen Fenech the eve before his arrest in connection with the assassination of journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia, Schembri has said under oath.

“It was the Prime Minister who told me to talk to Yorgen Fenech to tell him not to leave Malta,” Schembri said. However, he insists he did not ask Muscat where he got the information from.

Fenech attempted to abscond from Malta in the early hours of 20th November. His eventual arrest, which was caught off camera by Lovin Malta, led to the political crisis that saw both Schembri and Muscat resign.

Schembri, who was testifying in the police’s case against Fenech, said that the murder suspect had first contacted him by message on 19th November asking for more information on an article saying that state witness Melvin Theuma was set to receive a presidential pardon.

Chief Homicide Inspector Keith Arnaud that in the message Fenech begged Schembri to help, even saying that ‘the Times of Malta are after us”.

Schembri told the court that at 9pm he received a phone call from Muscat asking him to call up Fenech and convince him not to leave Malta.

The conversation with Fenech lasted 24 minutes, Schembri confirmed. Despite the long talk, Schembri insists that Fenech actually never told him about his involvement in the murder. He also insisted that Muscat worked tirelessly to ensure that no stone was left unturned in the investigation.

Schembri was first informed of Fenech’s potential involvement in unprecedented briefings on the case between the Prime Minister and investigative team that was first set up by former Deputy Police Commissioner Silvio Valletta.

“Still, we were only sure of Fenech’s involvement once Theuma was arrested,” Schembri said.

Fenech has claimed he was fed information on the case directly from Schembri and Valletta. These details included the arrest of the three men charged with carrying out the murder, a potential pardon, that their phones were wiretapped, and that Chris Cardona’s number was discovered on the phone of one of Daphne’s killers.

Schembri denied all the claims in court this morning.

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