Robert Abela: ‘I Expect Police To Investigate All Corners Of Caruana Galizia Assassination’
Prime Minister Robert Abela has urged the police to investigate “every corner” in the complex case involving the assassination of journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia.
“This was a shocking case which hurt everyone and which hurt the nation,” Abela said when interviewed by a panel of journalists on ONE this morning. “I’m pleased at the way the investigations are ongoing and I expect all corners of the case to be investigated, against the four people who have been charged as well as any other necessary investigations.”
Abela said the “demarcation line” will be Angelo Gafa’s appointment as police commissioner, describing the proposed candidate as a man of integrity, honesty and discipline.
Yorgen Fenech has been charged with conspiring to assassinate Daphne Caruana Galizia, while brothers George and Alfred Degiorgio and Vince Muscat are the suspected triggermen.
However, the names of former OPM chief of staff Keith Schembri and former Economy Minister Chris Cardona have regularly cropped up in the ongoing court cases.
State witness Melvin Theuma has said he believes Keith Schembri was involved in Caruana Galizia's murder
State witness and murder middleman Melvin Theuma has said that while he only has evidence implicating his former friend Fenech, he is convinced that Schembri was somehow involved too.
Last week, Theuma testified that he was scared that Fenech and Schembri, who were close friends, could have hired hitmen to get rid of him and stop him talking about the murder.
Homicide Inspector Keith Arnaud has also confirmed that doctor Adrian Vella had told him under interrogation that Schembri had given him notes to pass on to Fenech after the businessman had been admitted to Mater Dei for chest pains while under arrest.
Vella said that he didn’t look at these notes, but they reportedly contained instructions to Fenech on how to pin the assassination on Chris Cardona.
Serious questions have also been raised about the murder investigation itself, with Fenech having informed Theuma in advance of his arrest, allegedly after he was fed information on the investigation directly from Schembri and former Deputy Police Commissioner Silvio Valletta.
Former police commissioner Lawrence Cutajar
Cutajar has also confirmed that, while he was police commissioner in 2019, he had met up with Theuma’s friend Edwin Brincat to settle a traffic fine. During the meeting, Cutajar asked Brincat whether he was aware of Theuma’s secret recordings with Fenech.
Theuma said that Brincat then approached him and warned him that the police were on his case.
This revelation prompted Home Affairs Minister Byron Camilleri to suspend Cutajar as his consultant, while Cutajar has said investigators in the Caruana Galizia case were already aware of his meeting with Brincat.
At one point in the recordings, Fenech also claimed that Cardona had passed on money to the men who assassinated Caruana Galizia.
Schembri has denied any involvement in the murder, while Cardona has waned that an “evil and malignant plot” was being cooked up to pin the murder on him. However, he said he doesn’t believe Schembri was involved.
Abela refused to comment on the latest developments in the case, warning that any extra comment from his end could prejudice the ongoing court cases.
“My job is to provide government direction and our direction is that we want to see justice done in all cases. We aren’t selective and we have strong democratic and governance credentials.”
“I am ready to take any necessary decisions, even hard ones, to keep strengthening these credentials.”
Do you think full justice for Daphne Caruana Galizia will be ever be carried out?
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