Degiorgos say Cabinet sitting on pardons implicating former minister

Brothers accused of murder of Daphne Caruana Galizia say their request for pardon in exchange for information is not yet acknowledged to protect former government minister • ‘Follow the money’, Caruana Galizia sister says

The Degiorgio brothers have repeatedly claimed that they know the identity of the masterminds to the murder
The Degiorgio brothers have repeatedly claimed that they know the identity of the masterminds to the murder

The two brothers accused of the murder of Daphne Caruana Galizia have explicitly suggested that the government is sitting on their requests for a pardon because their information connects the murder to a “former government minister” who they say was a mastermind.

In a statement by William Cuschieri, the lawyer for alleged hitmen George and Alfred Degiorgio, the brother said their requests for a pardon to reveal “all the information they have in connection with the accusations against them and other crimes which happened in the past which information is direct, known personally to them and not mere hearsay,” was still pending.

The pair asked what was holding the authorities from formally acknowledging receipt of their requests and from considering them “seriously and expeditiously”.

They said that in the case of middleman turned State’s evidence Melvin Theuma, the pardon was granted in a very short period of time through a decision by former prime minister Joseph Muscat, who they said had acted alone. “Why does the State prefer to consider and grant Presidential Pardons to a third party who, as has already resulted from his testimony, does not have direct evidence but is relying on what he says that they have told him?” Cuschieri asked.

He also asked why the State “did not wish to hear what they had to say and consider the information they have in accordance with the law.”

The lawyer pointedly asked: “Could it be the case that the authorities, the institutions and finally the State do not want to consider their requests in the manner contemplated by law because they advised that the information they have should lead in the case of the homicide of Daphne Caruana Galizia, amongst others, to a mastermind who was a government minister and therefore there exists a serious conflict of interest in those who in accordance to law should give their recommendation about the requests made by them?

“Could it be the case that the authorities, the institutions and finally the State do not want to consider their requests in the manner contemplated by law because they advised that the information they have should lead to a mastermind who was a government minister and present-day sitting minister in other cases where very serious crimes have been committed and therefore there exists a serious conflict of interest in those who in accordance to law should give their recommendation about the requests made by them?”

The men suggested that the Cabinet that is supposed to give its recommendation on their requests has a conflict of interest given the potential naming of a minister who was part of the previous Cabinet and “was involved as a mastermind in the case of the homicide of Daphne Caruana Galizia.”

“Are these the circumstances which are holding back that their requests are considered in accordance to law because the State is protecting itself from itself and its own wrongdoing?”

Caruana Galizia reaction

But Corinne Vella, Daphne Caruana Galizia’s sister, has accused the persons involved in the murder of working together to ensure that they all walk free, asking that investigators “follow the money” instead of relying on pardons.

“They want everybody to believe that what they claim to know, even though they don’t offer any evidence on or off the record, is somehow worse than what they have done themselves,” Vella told MaltaToday.

“All of the people accused of Daphne’s murder are working together. They’re campaigning to ensure that they all walk free,” Vella said.

She pointed out that nobody knew who was funding the defence of the men. “Rather than pandering to public outrage over claims that ministers are involved, Malta should be following the money trail… that is key. Who is funding the defence of the accused murderers? How much time is spent on frivolous requests and constitutional cases? This all costs money. Who is paying? The accused’s money is frozen.”