'The state did all it can,' Abela says as Fenech trial delay leads to bail

The state has done everything it can for Yorgen Fenech to be put on trial as quickly as possible, Robert Abela said on Sunday. 

"If you ask me whether the government could have done anything differently in this case, I would say it couldn't," the prime minister said. 

Abela was speaking two days after a court decided to grant bail to Fenech, five years after he was accused of complicity in the murder of Daphne Caruana Galizia. 

Caruana Galizia's son, Matthew, Repubblika and the Nationalist Party are among those who criticised the prime minister for failing to reform the judicial system. 

"The blame for killers being released on bail without any trial date in sight lies with the prime minister and the minister of justice. They had five years to fix the system and did nothing," Matthew Caruana Galizia said on Friday. 

But fielding questions from journalists on Sunday, Abela said a Labour government had done a lot to make the justice system more efficient. 

The members of the judiciary had been increased by 34 per cent, while the lawyers working at the Attorney General's (AG) office has increased significantly. 

"When the Nationalist Party (PN) was in power, 25 lawyers were working at the AG and that was a time when the AG was responsible for criminal and civil cases".

"Now the AG and State Advocate have 90 lawyers combined, 70 at the AG's office," he said. 

Because of the government's reforms, Abela said, "efficiency has skyrocketed".

As for the  Caruana Galizia murder and the work of the authorities, he observed that the Degiorgio brothers both received prison sentences of 40 years on conviction for murder while another co-accused, Vince Muscat was serving a 15-year sentence. 

The state had been ready to put Fenech on trial since 2021, Abela said, adding that it was not the state that decided when trials were held, but the judiciary. 

He said that several issues have impeded the start of the trial. 

That included several constitutional cases and preliminary hearings requested by Fenech's legal team, and also the Attorney General's request to hear the Degiorgio brothers' testimony. 

"The family (of Caruana Galizia) also made requests," Abela said. 

"One of the reasons if not the only reason why the court cannot set the trial date... is that the family has requested that all those who assisted Daphne Caruna Galizia must have their identity protected."

That means extracting the information but protecting the identity of the people who provided that information, he said. 

"The court-appointed expert has been doing that work for a year," he said. 

Abela said he was not blaming the family, adding: "I understand all the comments they make, and I understand their pain".

He said that the AG had opposed granting bail to Fenech, but added that he respected the judge's decision. He also pointed to the "extraordinary" bail conditions given to Fenech.