Lead investigator in Caruana Galizia case rubbishes claims prosecution waiting until last minute to indict suspects

The lead investigator in the case against the men charged with murdering Daphne Caruana Galizia has denied reports that the prosecution is planning to issue a bill of indictment against the three accused at the last minute.

Police inspector Keith Arnaud, writing on Facebook on Sunday, said a story carried by The Malta Independent today claiming that there was a strategy in place to indict Alfred Degiorgio, George Degiorgio and Vince Muscat “at the 11th hour” was not true.

The compilation of evidence against the accused, who are alleged to have been the hit men in the car bomb which brutally took Caruana Galizia’s life, is still ongoing, but fears have been voiced that the men could be granted bail should the Attorney General not issue a bill of indictment within 20 months from their arrest in December 2017.

Police inspector Keith Arnaud, in a rare move, voiced his opinion about The Malta Independent's claims on Facebook today

The newspaper, quoting “sources close to the matter” said there was “no intention to ‘ever let any of them see the light of day. They want to lock them up and throw away the key’”.

In a very rare occasion of a police officer speaking in public about an ongoing case, however, Arnaud chided The Malta Independent, saying that “hiding behind the phrase ‘well-placed sources’ or ‘sources behind the matter’ would still render you irresponsible to publish such an article’.”

Arnaud said he wanted to point out that “true sources in this case do not have a strategy or plan as ‘your source’ advise.”

“We do not ‘lock people up and throw away the key’,” the inspector emphasised, “That is NOT our job.”

Arnaud went on to appeal to the newspaper to “have some decency and consider well the wording and any impact your article may have”, adding that it had “no idea” how the Maltese legal system worked.