A judge tasked with deciding whether Yorgen Fenech should be given bail bought a 50-foot yacht from the murder suspect’s father George, documents show.
In a social media post on Thursday, family members of assassinated journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia flagged the 2008 purchase of the yacht by judge Giovanni Grixti.
Judge Grixti was a magistrate at the time of the purchase. He was appointed a judge in 2015.
PN MP and family lawyer Jason Azzopardi said the documents proved judge Grixti had “done business” with Fenech’s father.
“This is the same judge who in 2019, told Simon Busuttil that the Panama Papers are speculation.”
The MP slammed the judge for presiding over Wedneday’s bail hearing given his past relationship with Fenech’s father.
Azzopardi flagged the yacht purchase by Grixti in an e-mail sent to the chief justice on Thursday morning.
The MP further alleged that Grixti is a family friend of the Fenechs, and up until 2012, would regularly meet the murder suspect’s uncle Ninu.
“Judge Grixti should never have presided over the bail hearing”, Azzopardi told the chief justice.
No reason for recusal
In a later letter to the chief justice, Fenech’s defence team accused Azzopardi of trying to unduly influence Grixti’s decision on their client’s bail request.
The defence team said the purchase of a second-hand boat 13 years ago was not a valid reason for the judge to recuse himself from the bail decision.
They rubbished Azzopardi’s claims that a simple purchase of a boat meant the judge and Fenech’s father were in business together.
Fenech’s defence team said Azzopardi’s latest manoeuvre was a continuation of the “systematic intimidation” being carried out to the detriment of their client’s rights.
The judge later denied bail to Fenech, who has been in custody since his arrest in November 2019.
Prosecutors revealed during the hearing how Fenech tried to buy grenades, pistols and poison from the dark web, over a year after the assassination of Caruana Galizia in an October 2017 car bombing.
Fenech will face trial for consipiracy to murder, after the prosecution filed a bill of indictment, asking for a life sentence to be handed down.