A suspected middleman in the plot to assassinate Daphne Caruana Galizia could possibly be offered a presidential pardon to reveal who was the mastermind behind it, The Times reports.
The man was arrested by police on Thursday during a raid that targeted an alleged money laundering ring that the man forms part of.
The magistrate leading the inquiry authorised the police to seize devices in the man’s possession, with Europol experts also involved in the investigation. Europol’s analysis of these devices wcould provide further evidence about those involved in the assassination.
It is understood that the Cabinet will be discussing the possibility of offering the man a presidential pardon, with The Times reporting that the terms were still being “ironed out”.
Apart from the middleman’s witness account, investigators are hoping Europol’s analysis of his devices will offer up further evidence about those involved in the assassination.
The Times reports that the middleman is believed to have linked the person suspected of commissioning the murder to the men who carried it out, as well as those who helped procure the explosive device.
Three men – brothers Alfred and George Degiorgio and Vince Muscat – have been charged with triggering the car bomb which killed the 53-year-old journalist on 16 October 2017 outside her Bidnija home.
The Prime Minister has been kept abreast of developments and gave the go-ahead in recent days for negotiations over the pardon conditions to begin. Last month, Muscat said he was sceptical about presidential pardons in general as on many occasions they allowed men to walk free.