Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1186350
NEWS MATTHEW VELLA A breakthrough has been regis- tered in the hunt for the killers of the journalist Daphne Carua- na Galizia, when a money laun- dering arrest by the Maltese po- lice revealed one of the suspects was the alleged 'middleman' in the assassination. Caruana Galizia was killed by a car bomb on 16 October, 2017 outside her house in Bidnija, with three men suspected of having carried out the execution arrested two months later in De- cember. But yesterday, the suspect – which MaltaToday named as Melvin Theuma, 41, a taxi driver with a history of loan sharking according to court records – was said to have requested im- munity on all his past crimes, for information leading investiga- tors to closure on the harrowing assassination of the journalist. On the steps of Castille, Mal- ta's prime minister Joseph Mus- cat informed the press that he had signed a letter in which he was committing himself to rec- ommend the presidential par- don, only once the suspect re- veals everything he knows about the case. "The police have carried out a coordinated operation together with Interpol, where people ar- rested on a money laundering operation, included someone connected to the murder of Daphne Caruana Galizia." Muscat did not identify the suspect, but said the person had indicated to police they had evidence to corroborate their claims. He also said the decision to recommend a presidential par- don was his alone. "This will not be discussed or decided in Cabi- net. I have a general mandate from Cabinet on decisions such as these, and I will assume po- litical responsibility personally for this decision." WWW.MALTATODAY.COM.MT WEDNESDAY EDITION €1.00 Newspaper post WEDNESDAY • 20 NOVEMBER 2019 • ISSUE 664 • PUBLISHED EVERY WEDNESDAY AND SUNDAY EDITORIAL • PAGE 9 ANLYSIS PAGE 3 PAGES 6 & 7 'Middleman' could get pardon On Schembri, Muscat may be legally right but politically wrong New roads but no culverts: waterlogged roads make walking hell for pedestrians PAGE 3 Prime Minister Joseph Muscat says alleged middleman in Caruana Galizia assassination – 41-year-old Melvin Theuma – will get pardon if evidence takes investigators to masterminds The Menqa area in Marsa where the arrests were first made in December 2017 DAPHNE CARUANA GALIZIA MURDER