For the second time in weeks, government whip Glenn Bedingfield has lashed out against standards commissioner George Hyzler, this time over the latter’s investigation into the lavish gifts which former Prime Minister Joseph Muscat received from murder suspect Yorgen Fenech.

According to Bedingfield, Hyzler should have recused himself from this probe due to a “blatant conflict of interest” arising from a family link to Fenech's defence team. 

“Hyzler’s wife Giannella de Marco, is Yorgen Fenech’s defence counsel,” Bedingfield said in parliament on Tuesday.

Fenech is currently undergoing proceedings in connection with the murder of journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia in 2017. He is also the owner of Dubai-registered company 17 Black which was the source of funds which were intended to be deposited in secret companies belonging to former Energy Minister Konrad Mizzi and former chief of staff at the Office of the Prime Minister Keith Schembri.

The standards commissioner recently concluded that Muscat had breached the code of ethics when accepting expensive gifts from Fenech including three bottles of Pétrus – a premier Bordeaux red wine – costing about €5,800 in all.

The gifts were presented in February last year during a private party which Muscat had thrown at his official summer residence in Girgenti Palace. 

At the time Bedingfield had claimed Hyzler should have abstained from hearing the case himself due to what he described as “a blatant conflict of interest”. This prompted an immediate denial by the standards commissioner, who noted that the investigation did not enter into the merits of the pending court proceedings involving Fenech. Hyzler pointed out that Bedingfield only made the claim after the decision was out.

Yorgen Fenech (left) gave Joseph Muscat (right) three bottles of wine worth thousands of euro.

However, the government whip on Tuesday reiterated his claims while raising further questions.

“Did Hyzler’s wife meet Yorgen Fenech? What information did she have? How many times did she meet Fenech since November [when Hyzler had launched the investigation]?” Bedingfield asked.

“Are these ties acceptable for NGO Repubblika?” he added.

Bedingfield said this issue was a testament to the Opposition’s double standards on the freedom of the judiciary.

“It seems their concerns only arise if somebody coming from a Labour background is appointed magistrate or judge,” he said.  

Asked to back his claim, he insisted with Times of Malta that De Marco was part of the defence team even though she would not be present in court. 

"I made this claim over a week ago and asked Dr Hyzler to publicly deny it. He did not. If he does, he would be lying," the Government Whip said. 

"We’ll see if he replies to this and whether he still thinks there is no conflict of interest in this situation," Bedingfield added. 

Second clash in weeks

Last month, Bedingfield had also criticised Hyzler after the commissioner rejected his call to investigate Opposition MP Jason Azzopardi for abusing parliamentary immunity.

Azzopardi had hinted at possible collusion for the conversion of a jail term over fraud into a fine, in a case presided by Judge Consuelo Scerri Herrera.

The standards commissioner had rejected Bedingfield’s request on the grounds that complaints on the conduct of MPs in the House were outside his remit and fell under the responsibility of the Speaker.