Son of slain journalist against pardon for murder mastermind Yorgen Fenech

Matthew Caruana Galizia dismissed calls for Yorgen Fenech to be given a pardon, insisting there should be “no discount” for the man who masterminded his mother’s assassination.

He was reacting to a call by Civil Society Network that suggested Fenech should be given a reduced sentence if he provides information on corruption at a political level.

Fenech stands charged with masterminding the murder of Daphne Caruana Galizia and the compilation of evidence against him is ongoing.

The murder suspect had sought a presidential pardon last November to reveal all he knew but this was rejected by Cabinet. Another person involved in the murder, middleman Melvin Theuma, was granted a pardon to tell all after police found in his possession recordings of conversations he had with Fenech.

“No one should be talking about pardons when Malta has a plea-bargaining mechanism in place. But either way, not even that should be considered when it comes to a cold-blooded murderer like Yorgen Fenech,” Matthew Caruana Galizia said in a Facebook post.

The son of the murdered journalist said the ultimate goal is that of achieving justice for his mother’s murder, not putting X or Y in jail.

“Some politicians do have to go to jail along the way. But when they do, it will be as a side effect of the justice process, and not the end goal,” he said.

Caruana Galizia also mentioned how the police failed to act on the evidence brought forward by the FIAU in doing “close to nothing to move corruption investigations forward”.

“Even if we were bent on sending those politicians to jail, do we have to offer any discount to a murderer to achieve it? No, we don't… Without the police doing their job, our entire justice system falls apart. The last thing we need in this situation, is a discount for a murderer,” he said.

CSN said it was former prime minister Joseph Muscat who took the decision not to offer the business magnate a presidential pardon, suggesting his testimony could reveal more corrupt practices carried out by the former Labour leader.

“The conflict of interest that Muscat had in that official decision should mean that this case is not closed, and it is clear that Muscat and his clique did everything they could to cover their tracks by removing the possibility of Fenech speaking out on what he knew under oath,” CSN said.

Muscat had refrained from participating in the late-night Cabinet meeting last November where Fenech’s request for a pardon was discussed and turned down.