A political and institutional crisis within the Republic of Malta followed the uncovering of links between government officials and the 2017 assassination of investigative journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia. The Prime Minister's Chief of Staff Keith Schembri and Minister for Tourism Konrad Mizzi resigned following the arrest of businessman Yorgen Fenech in connection with the murder.
On 1 December 2019, the Prime Minister Joseph Muscat announced his intention to resign on 12 January 2020 after increased pressure from 2019 Maltese protests. An EU mission called for his immediate resignation. Constitutional experts, legal bodies and other representatives stated Muscat's decision to remain in office until January 2020 and to have a six-week parliamentary recess over Christmas had led to a constitutional crisis.
Background Since accession to the EU in 2004, Malta enjoyed a financial boom fuelled by online gambling, crypto-currency exchanges, the sale of EU-citizenship, and a financial centre with a reputation for lax controls on money laundering and tax evasion. According to The Guardian, the country has been used as a gateway into Europe for money from Libya, Azerbaijan, Russia and Venezuela.
In 2018, the European Central Bank revoked the licence of Pilatus Bank, which had first been investigated by the journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia, after its Iranian owner was arrested on sanctions-busting charges by US prosecutors. Among other things, Caruana Galizia wrote about gifts and money from the presidential family in Azerbaijan to Malta's Prime Minister Joseph Muscat, his wife and connections between opposition leader Adrian Delia and a prostitution ring in London. She has been described as "one-woman-Wikileaks" and one of the most important, visible and fearless journalists of the country. She ran a popular blog called Running Commentary, which investigated allegations of corruption and other criminal wrongdoing which Caruana Galizia alleged, ran into the highest levels of Maltese government. In a murder plot, she was killed in a car bomb attack to her Peugeot 108 on 16 October 2017.
Persons involved in the crisis Yorgen Fenech Yorgen Fenech served as head of Tumas Group and a director of energy company Electrogas until he resigned from both positions in 2019. In 2018 he was identified as the owner of a Dubai-registered company, called 17 Black. The company was listed in the Panama Papers. Caruana Galizia had written about 17 Black eight months before her death, alleging the company had links to the Prime Minister Joseph Muscat's chief of staff Keith Schembri and to former energy minister Konrad Mizzi. The political blogger Manuel Delia assumes Fenech wanted to cover up a bribe scandal, which Caruana had uncovered. Yorgen Fenech's "17 Black" company had spent millions on offshore accounts of several Labour Government ministers, evidence was found only after Caruana Galizia's murder.
Joseph Muscat
Joseph Muscat, Prime Minister of Malta, promised a fair investigation after the murder. In November 2019, clues pointed directly to the immediate circle of the head of government in the case. Since his resignation as Prime Minister in January 2020, Muscat is a back bench MP in the Labour Party.
Keith Schembri Keith Schembri was chief of staff of the Office of the Prime Minister. He is said to be one of the most powerful persons in Maltese politics. Schembri was the subject of Caruana Galizia's last blog post, minutes before she got killed. Caruana Galizia alleged he had benefited from secretive shell companies.
Schembri was a successful businessman before entering politics. His Kasco Holding bought paper, sold it to the printers in Malta and expanded into the trade of printing machines. His many clients included the Times of Malta, the oldest newspaper of Malta. Control of newsprint supplies allowed Schembri to often put pressure on newspapers to suppress or promote stories. Kasco also invested in beverage brands, restaurants and luxury furniture. In 2008, Joseph Muscat brought his friend Schembri to the Labour Party. Schembri updated the stale communication style of Partit Laburista. In 2013, Schembri was appointed as the "Chief of staff", a newly created position in the organigram of the ruling government.
When Schembri was arrested in 2019, the police investigation drew close to members of Joseph Muscat's government. Schembri was arrested at 5.30am on 26 November by Inspector Keith Arnaud and Inspector Kurt Zahra with no other officials present. Schembri's personal phone had been turned off around 5am, and Schembri claims he had lost it; it has not been recovered, and police did not search the house again. Police released Schembri some days later, announcing he was no longer viewed as a person of interest. Schembri admitted he had a family trust in New Zealand which owned a Panama corporation. Schembri resigned from the Labour Party in December 2019. In September 2020, Schembri was re-arrested on a money laundering charge, a court order froze his assets and an administrator was appointed to run his businesses.
Konrad Mizzi
Konrad Mizzi was removed from his post as health and energy minister in 2016 after it emerged that he had set up a company in Panama, listed in the Panama Papers. He said, he had merely made arrangements for managing family assets through a family trust in New Zealand which owned the Panama corporation and had done nothing wrong. He became tourism minister but stepped down in November 2019 saying it was his duty to allow Mr Muscat's government to continue. In his health role he oversaw the part-privatisation of Malta's health service. In December 2019, Muscat gave Mizzi a consultancy job paying €80,000 p.a. plus bonuses, with the Malta Tourism Authority. Robert Abela appointed him as the Head of the Maltese delegation to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe. When it became known, public anger at these appointments forced the government into a U-turn.
In June 2020, Mizzi was kicked out of the Labour Party after he refused Abela's request to resign. Mizzi continued as an independent MP.
In November 2020, summoned to attend the public inquiry into the murder of Daphne Caruana Galizia, Mizzi refused to answer any questions in open court or behind closed doors, simply stating that "As a minister in Cabinet, I always followed the instructions of my prime minister..."
Zammit Lewis In January 2020, Abela appointed Edward Zammit Lewis, MP and long standing friend of Joseph Muscat, as Minister for Justice.
Melvin Theuma Melvin Theuma is a taxi-driver from Valletta linked to criminal enterprises and was arrested in November 2019 in connection with a separate anti-money laundering investigation. Theuma offered police information about the 2017 murder in exchange for immunity from prosecution. He is described as a middle-man between the commissioners and the murders.
Theuma had made and retained secret recordings of conversations which he had with him when he was arrested for running an illegal lottery on 14 November 2019, he then used these as leverage to get the Police Commissioner, Attorney General and the Prime Minister to agree to the terms of a presidential pardon within a day of his arrest, with Joseph Muscat signing the agreement to the pardon some three days later without discussing the matter with his cabinet, as per the norm. President George Vella, on 25 November 2019, at the request of Prime Minister Joseph Muscat granted the pardon.
Lawrence Cutajar Lawrence Cutajar was responsible for the investigation in the assassination case of Caruana as commissioner of the Malta Police Force. Muscat had always refused to remove Cutajar. Cutajar resigned at the request of the new prime Minister Robert Abela. On the day of his resignation as commissioner, 17 January 2020, Cutajar signed a contract to become a part time consultant with the Home Affairs Ministry at a salary of €31,040 p.a., compared to his previous full time salary of €37,946 as police commissioner. The consultancy contract was terminated in June 2020 after revelations in court. In June 2020, Angelo Gafà was appointed to replace Cutejar.
Chris Cardona In January 2017, Caruana Galizia accused Chris Cardona, an MP, Minister for the Economy, Investment and Small Business and Deputy Leader of the Labour Party that he visited a brothel with his aide Joe Gerada, while in Germany on official government business. Both Cardona and Gerada denied the claims and instituted libel suits, which were thrown out of court when Caruana Galizia was killed. Journalists in 2018 provided a possible link with the Degiorgio brothers, and in November 2019 a letter purportedly from Schembri was passed to Fenech which may have been an attempt to frame Cardona for the murder of Caruana Galizia. In January 2020 he lost his Ministerial position, resigned as an MP in April and was removed as Labour deputy leader in June 2020.
Caruana Galizia family
On 2 December 2019, the relatives of Caruana Galizia initiated legal action against Muscat. They demanded the immediate resignation of the prime minister, stipulating that his remaining in power was not to be tolerated by all who cared about justice: "His role in investigating the murder of our wife and mother is unlawful."
Timeline
In 2015, Caruana Galizia exposed a Ponzi scheme, investigated by the FBI, involving Maltese companies owned by two daughters of John Dalli, a former Nationalist Party Minister in Malta until 2004 and European Commissioner from 2010 until forced to resign in 2012 over allegations of a €60 million bribe. Maltese court action against Dalli was still delayed in 2017 despite the Police Commissioner wishing to proceed. His daughters were charged in late 2017. Linked by Daphne Galizia in February 2017 to 17 Black, Dalli denied any involvement.
On 16 October 2017, the investigative journalist Caruana Galizia died in a car bomb attack close to her home, attracting widespread local and international reactions. In December 2017, three men were arrested in connection with the car bomb attack.
Revelations by Melvin Theuma in 2019 On 14 November 2019, Melvin Theuma was arrested as part of an investigation into illegal gambling. Under questioning by police, Theuma made the claim that he had acted as intermediary in the contract killing of journalist Caruana Galizia. When Theuma called for his lawyers, he asked for Jason Azzopardi and his colleague Simon Busuttil. Both are the Caruana Galizia family lawyers, and both are members of parliament for the opposition Nationalist Party. The Guardian described both as "the forefront of the battle to hold Muscat's government to account."
On 19 November 2019, Muscat announced a deal with star-witness Melvin Theuma who would provide comprehensive information about the murder case and other crimes, while he receives immunity.
On 20 November, Yorgen Fenech attempted to leave Malta on his private yacht, with the Armed Forces of Malta intercepting his boat and arresting him as a "person of interest" in the Caruana Galizia murder enquiry. Maltese media alleged that Fenech was familiar with Melvin Theuma, a taxi driver with links to criminal enterprises who had been described in local media as a potential "middleman" in the murder.
On 23 November 2019, Fenech offered himself as a witness. He promised information about the murder case and other offenses, in exchange for immunity.
On 25 November 2019, star witness Melvin Theuma was granted immunity from prosecution by President George Vella at the request of Prime Minister Joseph Muscat.