WATCH | Jury verdict left me ‘baffled’, former PM Joseph Muscat tells journalists

Former prime minister Joseph Muscat said the jury decision to acquit Yorgen Fenech left him “perplexed”, spending a press conference debunking what he claimed were factually incorrect statements and false testimonies in court.

“Today, I will be exercising my right to freedom of speech as many here do about me. I want to set the record straight,” he started his press conference.

Muscat was prime minister when Daphne Caruana Galizia was assassinated, when Melvin Theuma was granted his presidential pardon, when Yorgen Fenech tried to flee Malta and when investigations were started.

Muscat’s chief of staff when he was premier Keith Schembri has been central in the case, cited a number of times by the prosecution and the defendant.

The former Labour leader, continuing in Prime Minister Robert Abela’s vein, slammed undue criticism on the country’s institutions, saying people should not attack the jurors just because they do not agree with the result, but called out a number of what he claimed where mistakes in the runup to the jury trial.

Muscat refutes number of claims which emerged during jury trial

Joseph Muscat also refuted a number of claims made in court, including Kenneth Camilleri’s gun going off in Castille, that Keith Schembri leaked information about ongoing murder investigations, and that he was made privy to details related to raids.

Muscat said the claim that Kenneth Camilleri’s gun had gone off inside Castille was false, insisting that Camilleri had been repeatedly told not to walk around the government headquarters with a holstered firearm.

He said he had also been troubled by several claims surrounding briefings he and his chief of staff had received from the police during the investigation.

“I didn’t request the meetings with police, but they with me,” Muscat said, adding that the police chose what information to share with him.

He said Schembri neither requested nor was asked to attend those meetings and insisted he was never aware of any leaks by his chief of staff.

“At no time was I aware of any leaks by Keith Schembri,” he said.

Muscat also denied ever asking for, or being given, information about the dates of arrests or searches.

He said he never told Schembri that he had been mentioned by Melvin Theuma, adding that Schembri’s name had never featured in Theuma’s calls.

“Secret Service would have informed me,” he said.

Muscat also addressed the raid on a potato shed, saying neither he nor Schembri had known when it was going to take place.

“I felt betrayed that they knew and were ready for the raid,” he said.

He said he was similarly concerned that a Europol report had ended up in the possession of the accused.

“What was leaked also came from other points. That could have undermined the jury,” Muscat said.

On Camilleri, Muscat said the former aide had requested a meeting with him and that he had been informed Camilleri wanted to discuss bail.

He also rejected claims surrounding meetings with businessmen at Girgenti, saying he was not the first prime minister to invite businesspeople there.

Muscat said police had subsequently found the geolocation of a meeting between himself and Fenech, but insisted he could not have known when police raids were going to take place, let alone their exact location.

Theuma’s presidential pardon and his scepticism

Turning to Theuma’s presidential pardon, Muscat said the attorney general and then police commissioner had convinced him that granting the pardon was the best way to unlock the investigation.

He said he had initially been sceptical because previous pardons had not produced results.

“I took the decision alone because I was made aware that lobbying would be made to prevent the pardon from happening,” he said.

On Fenech’s request for a pardon, Muscat said Cabinet had ultimately decided not to grant it.

He also defended his handling of the protests which followed the murder, saying he had instructed the police not to intervene in demonstrations.

Muscat said his resignation was not because his job had not been done, but because he did not want to leave even the smallest impression that he was interfering in the murder investigation.

“I didn’t resign because my job was not done, but because I didn’t want even the tiniest impression that I was interfering in the investigation,” he said.

He said there were also people “manoeuvring behind my back” at the time.

Daphne Caruana Galizia public inquiry

Muscat also addressed the findings of the Daphne Caruana Galizia public inquiry, saying he accepted and respected its conclusions while retaining the right to comment on them.

He said the inquiry’s main conclusion was at odds with the jury’s decision, particularly its findings concerning the Electrogas project.

“The public inquiry puts it on the Electrogas project, but the jury clearly does not believe it,” he said

Muscat recalled his involvement in selecting the members of the public inquiry, saying he had initially wanted Anthony Abela Medici, before proposing Ian Refalo and later Vince De Gaetano.

He said the Caruana Galizia family did not accept Abela Medici because Daphne Caruana Galizia had written about him.

Muscat said he accepted Joe Said Pullicino because the terms of reference were clear about examining the connection between the state and the murder.

“I thought the other judges would balance him out, but they were weak and bowed their heads to the system,” he said.

The terms of reference were later extended to examine whether the state could have prevented the murder, he said.

“I accept the conclusions,” Muscat said.

Muscat also said he had been on the list of witnesses due to testify during the trial and criticised what he described as a narrative surrounding the way government business was conducted at Castille.

He specifically referred to the “naked man situation”, insisting that Castille was never a brothel.

“It harms those who have worked so hard at Castille,” he said.

Soul Searching

The former prime minister also called for “soul searching” over the relationship between politicians and businessmen, questioning whether direct communication between politicians and major investors should automatically be viewed as suspicious.

“We need soul searching on this topic,” he said.

“We have to see whether this is normal, and whether it is amplified because we are a small country.”

Muscat also defended the Fenech family, saying he had been placed under scrutiny after accepting a watch from Yorgen Fenech.

He said gifts had been recorded and that similar gifts had been received by former prime ministers and ministers, including Eddie Fenech Adami and Austin Gatt.

He said the reaction to his receiving the watch had created “panic”.

Murder treated like a terrorist attack

Returning to the immediate aftermath of Caruana Galizia’s murder, Muscat said he had initially believed the assassination could have been a terrorist attack.

He said he had been reducing his calorie intake in the days before the murder while continuing to take the same medication, and had passed out.

When he was informed of the murder, he said he immediately treated it as more than an ordinary killing.

“I immediately equated it as a terrorist attack. This was not just a murder,” he said.

He said he ordered the closure of Malta’s ports and increased surveillance at the airport.

Muscat said he also immediately instructed Schembri to contact international authorities.

Schembri contacted Mark Shapiro, he said, and was informed that the FBI would be in Malta within 48 hours.

Muscat stressed that the FBI had not come to Malta to train the police, but to investigate.

He said the FBI brought equipment capable of tracing a person's movements through locating devices, which he claimed ultimately helped investigators catch those now in prison.

“The people inside prison right now were caught using these devices. If that decision was not taken, they would not be caught,” he said.

Muscat concluded by reiterating that scrutiny of the verdict was legitimate, but warned against attacking institutions or jurors because their decision was unpopular.

“We cannot call for institutions to be protected, but then attack them when the decision does not go our way,” he said.

He said the targeting of jurors was hypocritical and could have consequences for future jury trials.

“There was no recommendation by the Daphne Caruana Galizia public inquiry to change the jury trial process,” Muscat said.

He warned that attempts to target jurors could ultimately undermine confidence in trial by jury.

“It’s hypocrisy to target the jurors, and will impact the trial by jury process in the coming years,” he said.