Vince Muscat, one of the men who murdered journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia, has been sentenced to 15 years for his role in the murder.

In her judgement, Judge Edwina Grima said that this sentence is dependent on true testimony Muscat will provide to the courts. She also said he was guilty of recidivism. 

Muscat has also been ordered to pay over €40,000 in court administrative fees.

Muscat changed his plea to guilty during a sitting in front of a court of appeal. Sources suggested that Muscat is now cooperating with the police. He has reportedly been granted a presidential pardon. 

In exchange, Muscat will testify in the case against George Degiorgio and Alfred Degiorgio, the two brothers who were also charged with carrying out the murder of Caruana Galizia. He will also likely testify in other cases.

Muscat has been angling for a pardon or reduced sentence for the better of three years, insisting that he could provide crucial information on the assassination, several other murders, a notorious HSBC heist, and other crimes. He has allegedly implicated a sitting minister in a “very serious” crime to investigators.

Sources suggested that Muscat could be able to provide information that could implicate the suspected bomb makers. 

He had requested a pardon in return for information on the Caruana Galizia murder, which will reportedly implicate suspected bomb makers Robert Agius and Jamie Vella, and other serious crimes.

Agius, his brother Adrian, and Vella have since been arrested.

Given their murder of Caruana Galizia, there are also questions as to whether the men were involved in the spate of car bombings that occurred in the lead-up to the assassination.

There had been 19 car bombs between 2010 and 2017. With practically all of the victims linked to the criminal underworld, they were often forgotten by the Maltese public while authorities found many dead ends.

The last fatal one was Caruana Galizia. There have been no car bombs since, barring a failed attempt in Fgura, which quickly led to arrests

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