Prime Minister Joseph Muscat today would not speculate on the reasons behind the arrest of Yorgen Fenech, saying that he wants to be cautious in what he says as anything he does might prejudice the case.

Yorgen Fenech was intercepted at sea by the Armed Forces of Malta and is in police custody, police sources said.

Speaking to journalists, Muscat said that he cannot reveal the reasons behind this morning’s arrest, although he understands that the media is joining the dots and making obvious assumptions.

What he did say was from the information he had until the moment he was speaking there is no politician connected.

Muscat said that today’s events confirm that, as he had said two years ago soon after the assassination of journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia, he is leaving no stone unturned in search of the culprits.

He added that the recent events also show that the country's institutions are working as they should.

He said that he will be prudent in his comments because he does not want them to in any way prejudice the case. He said that yesterday he was forced to make public comments after media stories which, he said, may have alerted persons of interest.

He said that he had given instructions to the authorities to be on the lookout for persons of interest who could react following the news in the media. "If I had not given these instructions maybe today we would be speaking about persons of interest who may have escaped," Muscat said.

Muscat once again appealed to the media to be prudent it its reporting, saying that he has kept information to himself for a long time and is not as yet ready to speak openly about the case. The time, he said, will come when he will be in a position to be more forthcoming. "Anything I say may be used not to close the case but to keep it from closing," he said.

Muscat said that what happened in the past hours shows that justice is blind and that the country's institutions were doing their utmost to bring any perpetrators to book. He said it is too premature to say whether the information provided to investigators will lead to a recommendation for a presidential pardon to a person who was arrested last Thursday and offered to reveal details in connection with the murder of Daphne Caruana Galizia. The PM on Tuesday signed a letter promising a recommendation, on condition that the information provided is corroborated in court.

He said one must not speculate and wait for the investigations to continue.

“I said I will leave no stone unturned two years ago and that is what I am doing. I want to say much more but I have kept it inside me for the past two years and I will continue to do so until investigators have the necessary proof that will lead to a conviction. I must wait a few more hours or days, what I’ve kept inside for two years I will keep inside a few more days,” said Muscat. 

When asked whether Fenech’s arrest should lead to the resignations of Minister Konrad Mizzi and Chief of Staff Keith Schembri, Muscat said that he must wait for the investigations to take place before commenting. “I am sure there will be the necessary conclusions, and we cannot jump to conclusions before all the facts have emerged,” said Muscat. He said that he has no indication that there are any politicians are linked to the assassination of Caruana Galizia. 

When asked whether Muscat has spoken to Mizzi and Schembri since this morning, Muscat said that he will be solely taking decisions himself, as he had done yesterday. He said that there were other politicians who may have business links with Fenech both in the past and present. “I hope that very soon we will close this case, which has been the biggest one in this country’s history.”

Muscat told reporters that he was not in a position to officially confirm the reason behind Fenech’s arrest. “Fenech was stopped by police, why he was stopped I cannot say. I am aware that there are clear assumptions, but I must be very careful what I say, because every word I say now will be scrutinised and could prejudice the case,” Muscat said. 

He said that Wednesday’s operation showed the government's and his own personal commitment to get the truth out there. He said that the investigators acted as soon as they had enough facts in their hand. He said had they acted prematurely, there would have been a risk of the whole case collapsing.