Several Labour MPs And Keith Schembri Agree With Prime Minister’s Pardon Offer To Caruana Galizia Murder Suspect
Several Labour MPs, as well as the Prime Minister’s chief of staff Keith Schembri, have said they support Joseph Muscat’s decision to offer a conditional presidential pardon to the suspected middleman in the Daphne Caruana Galizia murder case.
After Muscat announced that he had taken this decision unilaterally, Lovin Malta asked every MP from his parliamentary group whether they agree with the Prime Minister.
Within a few hours, 19 of them, around half of the parliamentary group, responded that they support the Prime Minister’s decision.
These are Glenn Bedingfield, Byron Camilleri, Rosianne Cutajar, Clayton Bartolo, Chris Agius, Alex Muscat, Edward Zammit Lewis, Julia Farrugia Portelli, Clint Camilleri, Joe Mizzi, Justyne Caruana, Evarist Bartolo, Aaron Farrugia, Konrad Mizzi, Etienne Grech, Michael Farrugia, Roderick Galdes, Ian Borg and Robert Abela.
The Prime Minister's chief of staff Keith Schembri has backed the decision
Most of them just confirmed they agree with the Prime Minister, while Etienne Grech added this line:
“Despite that presidential pardons have a poor track record, our Prime Minister’s track record is that everything goes right with what he does.”
The Labour Party’s deputy leaders Chris Fearne and Chris Cardona haven’t responded as of the time of writing, but both also said they agreed with the Prime Minister when questioned by journalists after today’s Cabinet meeting.
Moreover, the Prime Minister’s chief of staff Keith Schembri confirmed with Lovin Malta that he agrees with Muscat’s decision.
Muscat confirmed today that the suspected middleman was arrested last Thursday and that he has personally agreed to grant him a pardon if he can spill the beans on the mastermind’s identity and corroborate those claims in court.
MaltaToday later named the suspect as Melvin Theuma, a taxi driver with a trail of court cases that accused him of being a loan shark.
“I want to make sure we have a strong case, it seems like it is,” the Prime Minister said. “My job is to make sure that the person faces justice.”
His decision appears to enjoy the support of both sides of the political aisle, with the Nationalist Party arguing that the Maltese state should use all legal means at its disposal, including those of an exceptional nature, to bring the people behind Daphne Caruana Galizia’s assassination to justice
READ NEXT: PN Endorses Joseph Muscat’s Presidential Pardon Offer To Caruana Galizia Murder Suspect
