Caruana Galizia family requests AG meeting over Fenech pardon

The family of assassinated journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia has requested an urgent meeting with the Attorney General

Daphne Caruana Galizia's parents and relatives present for one of the vigils for the slain journalist
Daphne Caruana Galizia's parents and relatives present for one of the vigils for the slain journalist

The family of assassinated journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia has requested an urgent meeting with the Attorney General to clarify matters surrounding the request by Tumas magnate Yorgen Fenech’s request for presidential pardon.

On Saturday, the businessman formally applied for the pardon after being arrested earlier that week as he left the Portomaso harbour aboard his luxury yacht.

“We requested an urgent meeting with a representative from the office of the Attorney General to clarify the situation around Yorgen Fenech's request for a presidential pardon. We haven't received a response yet,” one of Ms Caruana Galizia’s sons, Paul, told Times of Malta.

An alleged middleman, taxi driver Melvin Theuma, has been formally granted a presidential pardon.

Prime Minister Joseph Muscat signed a letter in which he committed himself to recommend a pardon for Theuma, provided the information he provided about the October 2017 assassination was corroborated. The pardon was formally approved by President George Vella on Monday afternoon.

Last week, the Caruana Galizia family requested that Joseph Muscat distance himself from the investigations in view of Yorgen Fenech’s connections to senior government figures, particularly those linking him to former chief of staff Keith Schembri and former minister Konrad Mizzi with his offshore Dubai company 17 Black.

Both Schembri and Mizzi resigned on Tuesday, with the former chief of staff spending the night in police custody.