Businessman and 17 Black owner Yorgen Fenech was taken to hospital with chest pains and has since been granted police bail because police interrogation cannot continue, the police said.

In a statement, the police said that while investigations into the assassination of Daphne Caruana Galizia continued, Fenech complained of pain and requested to be given medical assistance when he was being interrogated.

On a recommendation of a doctor, Fenech was taken to Mater Dei Hospital under heavy police security. The police later was informed that because of his medical condition, Fenech is not in a position to continue to be interrogated for another 24 hours.

This is normal practice for a person being given the kind of treatment Fenech is receiving, the police said.

Fenech has therefore been given police bail and is no longer in hospital, but will continue to be given medical treatment while still heavily guarded. 

Before being taken to hospital this morning, Fenech had requested a presidential pardon.

It is the first time that the police have officially admitted that Yorgen Fenech's arrest is linked with their investigation into the murder of Caruana Galizia.

It is also the second time, since his arrest on Wednesday, that Fenech has been given police bail.

He was arrested on board his yacht on Wednesday morning and kept at the police headquarters until Thursfay at 9pm, when he was given police bail.

On Friday, he accompanied officers for a search on his yacht, still berthed at Portomaso, before before being rearrested on Friday at noon.

Suspects cannot be kept by police for more than 48 hours. They need to be arraigned in court, set free or released on police bail, which means that they must be at the police's disposition at any time and cannot leave the country. A police bail can last up to three months. 

In this evening's statement, the police said that Fenech is now on police bail, so he is technically not under arrest, but kept under close watch. Should the police decide to re-arrest him again, another 48-hour period starts.