Malta’s Former PM to Testify in Murdered Journalist Inquiry

MALTA’s former Prime Minister Joseph Muscat has been called to testify at the public inquiry into the brutal murder of journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia.

Joseph Muscat resigned as Prime Minister in the wake of the brutal assassination of Daphne Caruana Galizia. The acclaimed investigative reporter had made a career in exposing rampant corruption, cronyism, nepotism, and organised criminality in Maltese politics. In 2017 she was killed in a car bomb near her home, prompting a widescale investigation that brought down Muscat’s Labor government.

The former PM has close ties to several people under criminal investigation by police for the murder. His former chief of staff, Keith Schembri, has been declared a ‘person of interest’ by detectives while one of his previous cabinet colleagues Konrad Mizzi refused to answer over 100 questions at the inquiry last week.

Muscat is now being scrutinised for his connection to Yorgen Fenech, a prominent Maltese businessman who stands accused of masterminding Galizia’s assassination. He allegedly invited the tycoon to a party while investigations were ongoing, and received a gift of expensive wine. In 2014 he stayed at Fenech’s luxurious French hotel and received designer watches, and has been unable to state whether these transactions were gifts. Fenech was arrested in November 2019 after trying to flee Malta on his yacht.

Joseph Muscat says that ‘I intend to attend and answer any questions of the Board of Inquiry which I myself appointed as Prime Minister’. The family of Daphne Caruana Galizia say that Muscat oversaw a ‘culture of impunity’ in Maltese politics.

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