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LIVE: Vince Muscat To Testify In Case Against Yorgen Fenech

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Vince Muscat, one of the three men charged with carrying out the assassination of Daphne Caruana Galizia is expected to testify in the compilation of evidence against suspected mastermind Yorgen Fenech this morning. 

Muscat has pleaded guilty and is currently serving a 15-year sentence for his role in the murder. He was granted a presidential pardon in the case of the murder of lawyer Carmel Chircop and has since requested a second presidential pardon to reveal information about more crimes.

Melvin Theuma, the man believed to have acted as the middleman between Fenech and the assassins, was originally expected to take the stand in today’s sitting.

Theuma was also granted a presidential pardon in order to testify about his involvement in the murder. His secret recordings of conversations he had had with a number of people, including Fenech and his associate Johann Cremona, have been central in the case so far. 

Last week, the court heard Theuma testify about recordings taken days before his arrest in 2019 and how Fenech asked Theuma to delete all the recordings he had made of their conversations, as well as to clean out any funds he had in his illegal betting business. 

Fenech was by this point trying to reassure Theuma, who by this point knew that he was to be arrested, that any police investigation into his dealings would only focus on money laundering, adding that then-Superintendent Raymond Aquilina would ensure investigations did not proceed too far. 

Theuma was also said to have asked Fenech to speak to former Police Commissioner Lawrence Cutajar for help. He is also understood to have asked Fenech to reach out to former OPM chief of staff Keith Schembri and ask him to ensure that his family wasn’t dragged into the issue. 

Lovin Malta recently revealed that Cremona had tried to convince Theuma not to provide Vince Muscat – one of the three men accused of carrying out the murder, and who was known to have been cooperating with the police – with any funding, in order for him not to be able to afford a good lawyer and to have to use the services of a legal aid lawyer instead. 

Cremona had also assured Theuma in the run up to his arrest that he need not worry because the Prime Minister and police were “on his side”.

Superintendent Keith Araud and inspector Kurt Zahra are prosecuting with the assistance of Philip Galea Farrugia and Anthony Vella from the Attorney General’s office.

Lawyers Jason Azzopardi and Therese Comodini Cachia are appearing for the Caruana Galizia family. 

The defence lawyers are Marion Camilleri, GIanluca Caruana Curran and Charles Mercieca 

Magistrate Rachel Montebello is presiding

 

What do you make of Theuma’s testimony?

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Yannick joined Lovin Malta in March 2021 having started out in journalism in 2016. He is passionate about politics and the way our society is governed, and anything to do with numbers and graphs. He likes dogs more than he does people.

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