Yorgen Fenech lawyers make final submssions in constitutional case for bail

Business tycoon Yorgen Fenech wants to clear his name from the involvement in the assassination of Daphne Caruana Galizia, his lawyer insisting there was no evidence that he would in any way tamper with evidence.

Charles Mercieca said his client had been under preventive arrest for 28 months and that pending investigations was being used as an excuse to continue depriving him of his liberty.

But State Advocate Chris Soler told Madam Justice Miriam Hayman that the fear of flight was the reason why the prosecution continued to insist on the continuation of his preventive arrest, based on ample evidence that Fenech had so many connections, locally and abroad, that the fear of him absconding Malta was real.

The two lawyers were making final submissions in constitutional proceedings brought by Fenech, who is claiming his rights are being breached when he is repeatedly denied bail.

Fenech has been under arrest since November 2019, when he was accused of being an accomplice in Caruana Galizia’s murder. 

“Are we going to keep Fenech in jail forever because there are pending investigations?” Mercieca asked, as he cast doubts on whether the investigations mentioned were active because he said he had not seen any new evidence or any more people charged in court in connection with this case. “This shows that there is no active investigation,” he said.

Mercieca asked how his client could tamper with any evidence when he has no clue what investigations are being conducted and where the investigations were going. Moreover, all evidence presented so far in his case had been preserved.

He said the lead investigator, superintendent Keith Arnuad, had confirmed in court that investigations involving Fenech had been concluded.

He said the concerns linked to granting his client bail could be balanced with proper conditions which, if breached, would see him back under arrest and separate criminal charges for breaching bail. “Is there any evidence that there was any attempt or intention to tamper with evidence? There is none. That is why we believe the continued arrest is now in breach of his rights. There's an opportunity for justice with Fenech. The constitutional court is his safety valve,” he said.

Mercieca mentioned a long list of people who had been granted bail despite facing similar proceedings in court, including two soldiers charged with the murder of migrant Lassane Cisse. “Fenech has every interest to remain in Malta because he wants to defend his name and show that he neither paid nor had any intention to kill anyone. Having connections abroad is not sufficient enough to refuse bail,” he said.

But Soler rebutted, saying the risk of flight was the State’s main concern over Fenech’s request to be released on bail. He insisted that the investigation into the assassination was still under way and was “very active”. There was also a pending magisterial inquiry into the involvement of third parties.

He said that during Mercieca’s submission, no reference was made to the ton of evidence which had been brought before the court including his client’s attempts to purchase items through the dark web, the chats, the emails and other evidence.

One chat involved Salman Rahman, a cabinet minister in Bangladesh with whom Fenech had discussed several projects that he was apparently planning to undertake in that country.

“Fear of flight is all over the place,” he said as he referred to Arnaud’s testimony before the court that the messages sent by Fenech from his mobile showed that he was planning to escape from Malta.

Madam Justice Hayman is expected to deliver judgment on April 27.

Lawyers Gianluca Caruana Curran also assisted Fenech while lawyer Therese Comodini Cachia appeared on behalf of the Caruana Galizia family.