Yorgen Fenech's lawyers want the family of Daphne Caruana Galizia to be excluded from their legal bid to prevent testimony about information he gave to police before his request for a presidential pardon was rejected. 

The business tycoon who stands accused of complicity in Caruana Galizia's murder is arguing that only information he gave investigators after his failed pardon bid should be heard in court.

His legal team say that his right to a fair hearing would be prejudiced if the court allows any questions from the prosecution and the murdered journalist's family about those initial rounds of questioning. 

Fenech was arrested on November 19, 2019 and had a request for a pardon rejected by cabinet 10 days later.

His lawyers filed an objection to the Caruana Galizia family's request to intervene in proceedings on Monday, after Magistrate Rachel Montebello allowed prosecuting officers Keith Arnaud and Kurt Zahra, as well as former commissioner Lawrence Cutajar, to testify about everything Fenech had told investigators about the murder.

In court on Monday, parte civile lawyer Therese Comodini Cachia argued that the family’s right to intervene, not only in the murder proceedings but also in other matters stemming from the main case, was granted under the Criminal Code.

The family’s status as victim meant that their interest subsisted from start to finish, she argued, citing case law that placed the parte civile among those categories of people with the status to intervene in court proceedings. 

The family had faced a similar scenario when a claim had been filed, in the murder compilation of the three alleged hitmen, in an attempt to block the FBI agents from testifying in those proceedings, Comodini Cachia pointed out.

Flowers laid to mark the third anniversary of the murder of Daphne Caruana Galizia last month. Photo: Mark Zammit Cordina

However, lawyer Charles Mercieca countered that the victim’s family had no juridical interest in these proceedings and were confusing interest in the case, “probably shared by the general public” and juridical interest in terms of law.

The latter had to be “precise, personal and concrete,” Mercieca argued.

Moreover, it was the Attorney General, and not the parte civile, who had a duty to preserve evidence and ensure the proper administration of justice.

In this case, Fenech was not claiming a breach of rights due to a judicial act filed by the victim’s family or over something the parte civile had done in the compilation proceedings, but because of a decree delivered by the Magistrates’ Court about evidence gathered without the accused’s consent, the lawyer argued.

Madam Justice Anna Felice declared that a decree on the matter would be delivered on Tuesday, putting off the case for further submissions on the applicant’s request for an interim measure accordingly.

Merceica, is assisting Fenech along with lawyers Gianluca Caruana Curran and Marion Camilleri. Comodini Cachia and Jason Azzopardi are appearing parte civile. State Advocate Chris Soler, together with lawyer Maurizio Cordina, are representing the State Advocate’s Office.