Brothers Alfred and George Degiorgio, two of the co-accused in the murder of Daphne Caruana Galizia, said on Wednesday they have not received any communication on their request for a pardon to reveal new information.

The two reiterated in a statement that their information “should lead to a mastermind who was a minister and a middleman in the case of the homicide of Daphne Caruana Galizia”.

No proceedings were ever taken against such people and they were not given a presidential pardon, they said.

Shortly after the statement was released, Matthew Caruana Galizia, the son of the murdered journalist said her family was "vehemently opposed to a pardon or bargain of any kind" for the accused.

"The accused pose a grave threat to the safety of my family, to our lawyers, to investigators, to prosecutors and to society in general," he said.

The Degiorgios claim they also have direct information which shows “the involvement of a mastermind who was a minister and of a sitting minister in another case where a very serious crime was committed.”

They insisted that in both cases, their information is direct evidence, not hearsay.

The Degiorgio brothers, along with Vince Muscat, were arrested in December 2017 and accused of having committed the car bomb murder the previous October. Muscat last month dramatically admitted his involvement in the case and as part of a plea bargain was sentenced to 15 years imprisonment.

Matthew Caruana Galizia lays flowers at the site of his mother's murder to mark the third anniversary of her October 2017 death. Photo: Mark Zammit Cordina

Information he gave to the police subsequently led to the arraignment of two men accused of having supplied the bomb used in the murder. He was granted a pardon for another murder and has since requested a second pardon to reveal more.

Earlier this month, while on the witness stand, Muscat made a cryptic reference to a “big job” allegedly involving former minister Chris Cardona as well as an unnamed sitting minister. Earlier he had told investigators that Cardona was behind a plan hatched in 2015 to kill Caruana Galizia which never came to fruition. Cardona denies the claims.

A pardon was granted in November 2019 to Melvin Theuma, who confessed to having been the 2017 plot’s middleman. He implicated businessman Yorgen Fenech.

Fenech was arrested and arraigned a few days later, accused of complicity to murder. Fenech himself unsuccessfully sought a pardon, implicating former chief of staff Keith Schembri in the crime and later saying Schembri had attempted in various ways to do all he could to stop him from divulging information. Schembri has denied any involvement.

In their statement on Wednesday, the Degiorgio brothers said they are seriously concerned how their requests for a pardon can be considered "serenely" and fairly in view of the possibility of conflict of interest by those who in terms of the law may make the recommendation for a pardon.

“Thus the whole truth will remain unknown,” they warned. In terms of the law, the president grants a pardon only on the recommendation of the government.

The Degiorgios said it was for this purpose that in June 2019 they had requested to speak to the Members of the European Parliament Ana Gomes and David Casa. They reportedly refused the request.

“The State has to be in a position to listen to the information they have and not be hindered from hearing such information due to conflicts and from considering in accordance to law the requests made by them,” the statement issued on behalf of the Degiorgio brothers read.

Prime Minister Robert Abela said on March 24 in parliament that every request for a presidential pardon is handled with the utmost responsibility in the national interest. He said he was standing up to criminals and nothing would stop the government's quest for the truth.