Degiorgios could be offered 35 years for guilty plea

A plea bargain for 35 years in prison for two of the men accused of assassinating journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia has been mooted in unofficial talks with their defence counsel.

The ‘unofficial’ offer of 35 years to Degiorgio brothers George and Alfred was made in reply to a request from the two men to identify all individuals who commissioned the murder, and information on other major crimes, MaltaToday is informed. 

But sources privy to these exchanges between the Attorney General and the Degiorgio’s lawyer believe any such talks are on the verge of collapsing due to the absence of any meaningful incentive for cooperation.

Under Maltese law, the official punishment for murder is imprisonment for life, which means that a convict will die in prison. Given that George Degiorgio is currently 59 years old and his brother Alfred, 57, they would leave prison as septuagenereans under the unofficial offer.

They would be qualified for release in their 70s not in their 80s due to remission. Remission is usually granted unless an inmate's behaviour in prison is bad. It's calculated at two thirds of the time actually spent, so every one year of the sentence works out to eight months actually served.

The Degiorgios understand that a lengthy 35-year prison sentence, effectively ‘life’ for them, would not require them to collaborate on any of the major crimes they have been implicated in as well as other unsolved murders connected to the Maltese gangland they inhabited.

On their part, the Degiorgios are said to be requesting a maximum of 25 years in return for collaboration on their part. They have already spent four and a half years in preventive custody since their arrest.

The discussions have been exploring the possibility of a reduced sentence in return for testimony identifying those who commissioned the Caruana Galizia assassination, and were recently thrust into the spotlight again when George Degiorgio went public with his offer.

“We want a judgment upon admission in the trial of Caruana Galizia’s murder, which judgment is in line with that already handed down to Vincent Muscat. We are willing to divulge everything we know about other murders, bombs and crimes provided we receive a pardon. We emphasise that the families of other victims should be served justice too,” William Cuschieri, the Degiorgios’ lawyer, had told MaltaToday earlier this month.

It was specified that the brothers were also willing to say everything they knew about and name all of the others involved in the Daphne murder conspiracy.

Those comments were a reaction to Reuter’s publication of an interview conducted with George Degiorgio, in which Degiorgio stated that he would plead guilty ahead of any trial by jury in the Caruana Galizia case and indicated willingess to provide testimony that would implicate the other people involved in Caruana Galizia’s murder, as well as a previous unrealised plot to kill the journalist.

The other co-accused, Vincent Muscat, known as il-Koħħu, admitted to his part in the murder, and was sentenced to 15 years in prison. Muscat admitted to the wilful homicide of Caruana Galizia, causing the explosion which led to the death of a person, illegal possession of explosives, conspiracy to carry out a crime, promotion of a group intending to carry out criminal acts and participation in such a group.

Muscat, George Degiorgio and his brother Alfred Degiorgio, were accused of procuring, planting and detonating the bomb that killed Caruana Galizia in October 2017.