The non-arraignment of a person of interest in court gives the police more time to investigate and interrogate that person, Prime Minister Joseph Muscat said this morning.
He was giving a statement at his office in Castille on Friday, after Yorgen Fenech was on Thursday evening released on police bail.
He said that when a person is charged in court, the police would no longer have the legal means with which to continue interrogating that person, which would therefore limit their investigation.
The police cannot be seen as heroes on one day and villains the next, he said, referring to criticism that the police had not yet taken Fenech to court.
The police, he explained, have a 48-hour time limit between an arrest and an arraignment to keep a person in custody. After that 48-hour period expires, he said, the police would either need to arraign the person, set him free, or grant him police bail - which means that he would need to be available to the police at all times. "When a person is arraigned, then the police will no longer have the possibility to interrogate that person since the charges would have been submitted in court."
A police bail, as the one given to Fenech, will enable the police to keep questioning a person of interest, he said.
The case, Muscat said, is a major one, "the biggest our country has ever seen. The investigators, whom I have full faith in, felt they needed to ask more questions and needed more time to ask them."
The analysis of the data, the testimony, and all evidence that the person who is the alleged middleman is ongoing, he said, adding that this analysis is being done to the utmost detail, word by word and point by point. "It is not a situation that can be closed in a few hours, but there are certain points that need to be clarified with the person in question."
As such, the two situations are moving in parallel, he said. Muscat said that this was not the police' preferred course of action for the simple reason that they would have preferred to close the middleman case in order to see all the evidence there could be, and then from there proceed against people who there would be need to proceed against. He said that "what happened on early Wednesday morning resulted in the police taking certain precautionary measures and used a different mechanism. The authorities are being careful to follow the laws and not prejudice the investigation."
The police know exactly what they are doing, Muscat said, "and their interest, and everyone's interest, is for all the facts to be revealed."
The 'middleman' who is seeking a presidential pardon in exchange for information related to the assassination of Daphne Caruana Galizia was taken to hospital this morning. Muscat, asked about his condition, said that he was informed that the middleman admitted himself to hospital. "I am not and I shouldn't be privy to the condition of any patient. I have not been informed that there is anything major, but once again I shouldn't be privy to the condition of any particular person, but I believe that if there is something major I would be informed in some way or other."
Asked for the current whereabouts of Yorgen Fenech, Muscat said that he is not privy to that information. Asked whether if Yorgen Fenech would request a pardon or some form of plea bargaining in order to reveal corruption in the higher levels, whether he would be the decision maker, Muscat said "I think it is very premature to say that. Obviously there are always conditions for... i am not entertaining any issue on whether there is a further request for a pardon or not. What is obvious is that I do not shelter anyone. I will do whatever is necessary whenever it is necessary."
Asked whether there would be a conflict of interest if he were to decide on that, Muscat said: "so should we let the leader of the opposition decide. No I am here to decide. I haven't sheltered anyone, I have taken the best decisions to my knowledge for the Maltese people and for our country, and i will continue to shoulder that responsibility."
Asked whether the police is taking any extra precautions with regards to Yorgen Fenech, given his wealth, such as possibly freezing his assets, Muscat said: "I am pretty sure the police are taking all the necessary steps."
Muscat would not confirm whether other people have moved forward asking for a Presidential pardon saying it is premature, adding that the only one he has in front of him right now is of the alleged middleman.