[WATCH] Labour Whip claims Caruana Galizia family destroyed murdered journalist’s laptop

Glenn Bedingfield says action should be taken against those who interfered with the investigation by ‘tampering evidence’

Labour Whip Glenn Bedingfield
Labour Whip Glenn Bedingfield

Labour Whip Glenn Bedingfield has questioned the disappearance of a laptop belonging to murdered journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia in a parliamentary speech on Wednesday.

His statements come after a request by alleged mastermind Yorgen Fenech for the court to make available to his defence the contents of the late journalist’s laptop, was refused because the police have been unable to secure the hard-drive.

Magistrate Rachel Montebello said in her decision that the electronic devices requested by Fenech’s defence were effectively not available, because the police’s two requests to the inquiring magistrate for the devices to be preserved in the assassination inquiry, was never carried out.

“On whose orders was it destroyed? Why did they not ask for such important evidence to be preserved?” he questioned.

Action should be taken against those who tampered with evidence, he insisted.

He said the Caruana Galizia’s family were involved in every step of the case, but had remained quiet on the issue.

“Why did they not want to preserve the evidence, and for whose interests?” he said. “It is surely not in the interest of justice.”

He said it’s useless for “others” to come preach on justice to government, when even they do not practice what they preach.

Bedingfield insisted that government wants justice to be carried out, unlike “those vandals outside”, referring to civil society NGO Reppublika.

Occupy Justice activists placed placards in planters in front of the Parliament building in Valletta on Tuesday night, as they continued to protest “the extreme corruption that reigns in Malta and has infiltrated our institutions”.

“I call them vandals, because they vandalise monuments, state property and even public opinion,” he said.

Nationalist Party working against Malta

During earlier parts of his speech, Bedingfield reacted to the Opposition leader’s letter to the Financial Action Task Force, assuring them that as an alternative government his party would restore Malta’s international reputation.

“Today we have more proof that the PN collaborates with foreigners against Malta,” he said.

Drawing comparisons with former Prime Minister Dom Mintoff, he said that Robert Abela once again is facing foreign opposition, while being downplayed by Nationalist MEPs in Brussels.