Prime Minister not in a position to take decisions on pardon – ADPD

The Prime Minister’s prior legal representation of the brothers believed to have supplied the bomb for the murder of Daphne Caruana Galizia, puts him in a position where he cannot decide on pardons, ADPD said.

Reports on Sunday revealed that Prime Minister Robert Abela ppeared for brothers Robert and Adrian Agius in legal disputes between 2012 and 2016. Abela was a practicing lawyer and not an MP at the time.

The issue revolves around a request for pardon that was filed months ago by Vincent Muscat, il-Koħħu, one of three men accused of executing Caruana Galizia's murder. The Agius brothers and others had been detained in December 2017 by police investigating the journalist's assassination but later released and never charged.

Court testimony has suggested that the bomb that killed Caruana Galizia was made in a Żebbuġ warehouse belonging to Tal-Maksar.

The request for Muscat's pardon has so far not been entertained.

“The Prime Minister has a duty to ensure that the legal process is not tainted by any form of conflict, which his previous life as a practising lawyer of the underworld seems to suggest,” ADPD leader Carmel Cacopardo said.

The party called for the implementation of immediate and urgent legal reforms, allowing for the establishment of a framework dictating such decisions.

“A decision on a pardon for evidence that could bring more people to account for the assassination of Daphne Caruana Galizia should therefore not rest with him,” Cacopardo said.

Abela represented the Agius family in two cases revolving around financial disputes, first in 2012.

“The fact that I personally, not my law firm, but I personally, represented the Agius brothers is not a secret,” Abela said when asked on the matter.

He also stated that such representation will not impair his judgment in deciding whether to hand down the pardon or not.

"The fact that someone was my client in the past will certainly not work in their favour when it comes to important decisions I have to take. The oath I took back in January holds me back from doing that. Even more so, my conscience won’t allow it," he said.

The prime minister said “the easiest thing to do” would be to avoid taking any decision whatsoever and to steer clear of this case.

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