A criminal court has lifted a freezing order on Yorgen Fenech’s assets.
The freeze was put in place following Fenech’s arrest in 2019 for alleged complicity in journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia’s murder.
Fenech denies the charges.
Judge Edwina Grima, who will preside over Fenech’s eventual trial, ordered the cancellation of the freezing order earlier this month.
A public notice about the decision was posted on the Asset Recovery Bureau’s website.
Under a recently introduced legal regime, the attorney general must quantify the amount of assets that should be frozen, depending on the crime the suspect is accused of.
This does not appear to have been done by the necessary deadline, leading the judge to cancel the blanket freezing order Fenech has been subject to since November 2019.
We would like to assure you that our office is committed to the pursuit of justice, a goal we believe is shared by all- Attorney general's office
A spokesperson for the attorney general’s office declined to comment, citing a court order by the same judge prohibiting any commentary or reporting about the murder case outside of what is said publicly in court.
“We would like to assure you that our office is committed to the pursuit of justice, a goal we believe is shared by all,” the spokesperson said.
The PN and Repubblika have both called for the resignation of Justice Minister Jonathan Attard and AG Victoria Buttigieg.
Fenech has been held in preventative custody for the past five years awaiting trial. Apart from the murder case, Fenech faces charges over a “phantom job” allegedly given to confessed murder middleman Melvin Theuma.
Fenech was also indicted on money-laundering charges involving a gaming company he partly owns.
In yet another case, he stands accused of ordering grenades, pistols and poison over the dark web.
Sitting for that case are held behind closed doors.
Fenech denies wrongdoing in all three cases.
The Tumas Group businessman is also a suspect in a magisterial inquiry into potential corruption involving ex-OPM chief of staff Keith Schembri and ex-minister Konrad Mizzi.