A court judgement which quashed an attempt by Yorgen Fenech to get the chief investigator into the Daphne Caruana Galizia murder off the case confirms that Malta’s institutions have been “infiltrated by the mafia,” the rule of law NGO Repubblika said on Wednesday.

Fenech, accused of masterminding the murder of the prominent journalist back in 2017, had requested that Police superintendent Keith Arnaud be removed from the investigation of Daphne Caruana Galizia citing a conflict of interest and so a breach of his rights.

The court however ruled against Fenech’s request with Judge Lawrence Mintoff saying that if any conflict of interest did exist, it was with Keith Schembri and noted that it was a great disgrace that Arnaud was put in such a situation due to others’ conflicts of interest.

In a statement, Repubblika made three observations regarding Judge Lawrence Mintoff’s ruling with the request presented today by Yorgen Fenech who alleged that his rights were being breached.

Repubblika observed how it was once again documented by the court how Castille during Joseph Muscat’s term was a nest of criminality and corruption. The NGO said it is not surprised that Yorgen Fenech so “shamefacedly” put forward the request to remove Arnaud since it appears that “his friends in Castille no longer guaranteed the impunity he thought he had.”

At various points in its judgement, the court said it was “amazed and disgusted” by the “criminal and corrupt” behaviour and actions of government officials, particularly Keith Schembri who was the PM’s Chief of Staff, Repubblika said, adding that it was “a position of enormous power.”

 Secondly, it said that it is out of corruption and criminal action that the Attorney General and Police Commissioner didn’t take certain people with political influence to court or accuse them of flagrant acts despite “ample” proof. Repubblika said that it has been saying this at every protest they held every month of every year since the assassination of Daphne Caruana Galizia in October 2017.

Repubblika said that the court made both implicit and explicit reference to the known misdemeanours of Keith Schembri and that “impunity killed Daphne.” It said that this is documented in the public inquiry that was carried out three years ago.

Repubblika said that it believes that the impunity is still there and that the “mafiosos” have not yet faced any form of consequence for their criminal actions. It said that Victoria Buttigieg and Angelo Gafà are responsible for this, “driven by impunity, incapability and being as complicit as their immediate predecessors.” 

Finally, Repubblika said that the court observed that for certain wrongful actions, laws do not currently exist to provide a reprimand and made recommendations on what form these laws should take.

This was already said in the public inquiry, Repubblika said, which had advised that the abuse of power and the impeding of justice by public officials should be made explicit crimes. In the same way, it said, that no law has been made to combat the mafia.

Repubblika said that Wednesday’s sentence confirms, once again, that Malta is “a state whose institutions have been infiltrated by the mafia.” It added that though Keith Schembri is no longer in Castille, he nonetheless enjoys impunity and, “the mafia still reigns.”

 The refusal by Robert Abela to implement the recommendations of the public inquiry allowed the atrocities that so disgusted the court, the NGO said.

Repubblika said that it was positive that Judge Lawrence Mintoff’s decision confirmed that despite the terrible example of people in the highest ranks of the police and government, Malta still has officials of integrity who take their job seriously, with professionalism and impartially. Repubblika went on to salute Keith Arnaud and thank him for his work.

Repubblika said that it agrees with the new president’s inaugural speech in that Malta still hasn’t addressed the assassination of Daphne Caruana Galizia. However, it said “We now know the truth and it has been confirmed again today by another court decision, yet we have not achieved justice yet.”