Muscat assures ‘middleman’ of immunity if evidence is corroborated in court

Prime Minister Joseph Muscat yesterday announced he had assured a man arrested last Thursday that he would be given a presidential pardon in exchange of information on the mastermind behind the assassination of Daphne Caruana Galizia.

The presidential pardon will be given if the information stands up in court.

Addressing reporters yesterday morning, Muscat said that the man had been arrested in a police raid in connection with a money laundering investigation and had offered to provide information about the assassination, demanding a blanket pardon for all crimes he had committed.

Muscat said that he had given his assurance that if the information led to successful prosecution, a presidential pardon would be granted.

He said that he had taken the decision alone and had not sought Cabinet approval.

The man, the prime minister told reporters, had been arrested with others and was suspected to be the middleman between the alleged killers of Daphne Caruana Galizia and the mastermind.

During interrogation, the man informed the police that he was in possession of information relating to the murder. Through his lawyers, the man requested a presidential pardon for all the crimes that he had been involved in.

Muscat said that the request had been passed on to him, and that he had spoken to the investigators and the attorney general about it. He said it had been agreed that no blanket immunity could be given unless it was certain that the information provided would stand up in court.

He said that the attorney general and the man’s lawyers had negotiated what he described as an “unprecedented agreement,” as part of which he had signed a letter assuring the man that he “would be recommending a presidential pardon” if the information necessary could be corroborated in court – subject, however, to collaboration on other cases the man may have been involved in.

“This person now has the assurance of immunity if the information he provides leads to the prosecution of the mastermind behind the assassination of Daphne Caruana Galizia,” Muscat said.

“I am taking this decision alone,” he said before noting that this would not be discussed or decided by the Cabinet. He said that due to other precedents set in the case of presidential pardons, he believed that he alone should take the decision and shoulder the political responsibility.

He appealed to the media to “keep prudence” as the case was not yet closed, adding that the person was under strict protection and still being spoken to by the police.

He said that the government had done what it had to do, and there would be no impunity, regardless of who the assassins may be. He reiterated his call for prudence as any carelessness could prejudice the case.

Muscat noted that although he did not think it would be a matter of months before charges were laid, it would not be a matter of days either: “It’s somewhere in between,” he said, before stating that he would like the authorities to conclude their investigations quickly but diligently. This, he said, could even result in other potentially serious cases being closed.

Muscat admitted that he was “not too fond” of presidential pardons, as each time a pardon had been given in Malta, the person’s testimony in court was not believed: “I want to be sure that if we are going to give a pardon, the case has to be very strong. It seems like the case is, in fact, very strong, and so that is why I am going to be doing it,” he said.

Daphne Caruana Galizia was assassinated in a car bomb attack on 16 October 2017, just over 25 months ago, with three men – Alfred Degiorgio,

George Degiorgio, and Vince Muscat – now accused of her murder. Over the course of the last few months, however, the search for the middleman and, in turn, the mastermind behind the assassination has intensified.

In a statement, Leader of the Opposition Adrian Delia said that the Nationalist Party believed that the state should use all the means at its disposal – including those of an extraordinary nature – to determine who ordered, financed and executed the assassination of the journalist.

The Nationalist Party publicly thanked and encouraged the judiciary and investigators involved in the process.