It has been a tumultuous week for the investigation into the murder of journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia. Ivan Martin traces through the twists and turns.

Monday

Early on Monday morning, a cabinet meeting was held at the office of the prime minister.

During the confidential meeting, ministers were given details of a deal that had been hashed out between a lawyer representing one of Daphne Caruana Galizia’s alleged assassins and the authorities. 

According to advice from the State Prosecutor’s office and the police chief, ministers were told Vincent Muscat, known as il-Koħħu, was to plead guilty to his role in the 2017 murder of the journalist. He would provide police with evidence on other players in the crime in exchange for a reduced sentence. 

Muscat was also being recommended a presidential pardon in exchange for testimony on the 2015 murder of Carmel Chircop. 

The deal was kept under wraps for fear of the safely of all involved.

Tuesday

The compilation of evidence against the three alleged assassins started with a shock announcement by Muscat’s lawyer. After months of silence from the dock, one of the assassins was admitting to all the charges.

As Muscat registered his admission in open court, heavily-armed police officers carried out raids and arrested brothers Adrian and Robert Agius (known as tal-Maksar) along with their associate Jamie Vella. Times of Malta broke the news soon after the suspects were safely in police custody.

In October, Times of Malta reported that Muscat was willing to name Robert Agius and Vella as the men who supplied the bomb used to kill Caruana Galizia.  Five months later and the suspected bomb makers were finally in handcuffs. 

The developments in the murder case, the first major shake-up in several months, gripped the nation, and the prime minister called a news conference shortly after a brief trip overseas. 

Robert Abela said the day’s events showed the country’s institutions were working. He also said there was no evidence that any politician, past or present, was implicated in the murder. In a reaction, the Caruana Galizia family were far more cautious, saying only they hoped the developments would lead them a step closer to full justice.

Wednesday

Police investigators interrogated the men under arrest. Although sources say the suspects remained tight-lipped, investigators had Muscat’s testimony to back up previous evidence tying them to the crimes. 

Just after 5pm, the government published the pardon given to il-Koħħu for his role in the drive-by shooting of Carmel Chircop in 2015. The lawyer was shot multiple times in the back and died on the spot. He was an investor in the failed MORE supermarket chain that involved the Maksar brothers and Ryan Schembri, who fled the country in 2014.

Police commissioner Angelo Gafà called an 8pm crime conference to update the public on the week’s developments. Based on the evidence available, the police, he said, had now identified all the players in the crime, from the assassins, to their handlers, suppliers and even the masterminds. The announcement was met with scepticism from those who suspect more players may have had a hand in ordering the killing.

Just before 11pm, when the normally bustling streets of Valletta had been deserted, brothers Robert and Adrian Agius, their associate Jamie Vella, and alleged hitman George Degiorgio, were charged with complicity in the murders of Caruana Galizia and lawyer Carmel Chircop.

Denied bail by magistrate Victor Axiaq, the men were sped off by armed police to prison.

Thursday

The prime minister started the day with another press conference, keen to hammer home the point that law enforcement institutions were functioning unimpeded.

The arraignment of more players in the Caruana Galizia case, he said, had set the country on course towards “full justice” for the family. 

Abela dodged questions on whether any politicians had been implicated in the murder. 

The country’s attention then diverted away from the developments in the murder case. 

Parliamentary Secretary Rosianne Cutajar announced on Facebook that she had submitted her resignation, which she said was pending a probe into a Times of Malta report into her dealings with alleged Caruana Galizia murder conspirator Yorgen Fenech. 

Cutajar had been under pressure to step down following the publication of the media reports, which started in December.

After two months of defiantly refusing to step down, Cutajar announced in a Facebook post that she would be stepping down from her cabinet post pending an investigation by Standards Commissioner George Hyzler.

The prime minister has so far declined to take any action against her, instead deferring to the outcome of the Hyzler investigation.

Friday

Times of Malta reports a bombshell revelation: Vince Muscat has implicated former minister Chris Cardona in the Caruana Galizia murder.

The newsroom confirmed that Muscat told investigators how his alleged accomplices had been approached by Cardona in 2015 to murder the journalist. Although a price had been set, the plot was abandoned after the former minister allegedly failed to pay up. 

Muscat has also told investigators that the alleged hitmen had visited Cardona in the lead up to the 2017 car bomb at his Valletta ministry. The former politician vehemently denied the allegations. 

Cardona was a senior cabinet official in Joseph Muscat’s government between 2013 and 2019. He was briefly questioned by investigators in November 2019 in connection with Caruana Galizia’s murder.

Upon taking over from Joseph Muscat the following January, Abela declined to give him another cabinet post. Cardona resigned as an MP last April, stepping down as Labour deputy leader two months later. 

Civil society group Repubblika announces a protest is to be held tomorrow evening, after news of further alleged ties between the Labour government and the journalist’s killing. It is the first protest of its kind in nearly a year.