Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1188980
7 maltatoday | SUNDAY • 1 DECEMBER 2019 NEWS PAUL COCKS THE Speaker of the House has turned down a request by the former minister Chris Cardona, to extend to him his protection over an alleged at- tempt to frame him by former chief of staff Keith Schembri. Speaker Anglu Farrugia said the House's ordinance on privileges and powers states that only the defamation of the Speaker or an MP can be considered as a breach of privilege, and that he could not offer a remedy to Car- dona. The former economy min- ister told Farrugia that there had been an attempt to frame him for the murder of Daph- ne Caruana Galizia. He was referring to a report in The Times on Friday which alleged that Keith Schembri had authored a letter, passed on to the Tumas Group's family doctor Adrian Vella, instructing that it should Car- dona should be accused of having commissioned the as- sassination of Daphne Carua- na Galizia. In a letter to Farrugia ear- lier yesterday morning, Car- dona said that reports that the Cabinet had discussed the possibility of Cardona be- ing framed for the journalist's murder had not been refuted or challenged. Reports on Friday claimed that the Cabinet had raised concerns that Keith Schembri and Yorgen Fenech had con- spired to 'frame' Cardona. Cabinet ministers were re- ported to have expressed their anger and concern with Muscat over the attempt to pin the murder on Cardona. "I believe that any attempt to prejudice and attack a member of Parliament's con- stitutional function, requires strong and effective action, including from the House it- self, the highest institution in the country," Cardona wrote in his letter. "I am thus sending you this letter and enjoining the House of Representatives to safeguard my constitutional role and to take all necessary steps in the circumstances." During Thursday night's Cabinet meeting, ministers heard from investigators who detailed how a typed note had allegedly been passed on to Yorgen Fenech while in police custody directing him to pin the murder on Cardona and providing details of how this should be done. The letter was alleged to have been passed on to him by doctor Adrian Vella. Vella, who treats both Fene- ch and Schembri, was arrest- ed this week on suspicion that he was passing messages to the businessman on behalf of the former chief of staff. Sources said the letter had also been written by hand, in- dicating that the details of the alleged plan to pin the murder on Cardona had been altered at some stage and communi- cated "back and forth". Cabinet ministers were shocked to hear of these reve- lations from the investigators. "The ministers were livid at the way Keith Schembri was believed to have been let off. Some think he wasn't seri- ously probed, especially those among us with a legal back- ground," one Cabinet mem- ber said. Schembri gave a comment to Times of Malta saying he would never do anything to implicate any colleagues in wrongdoing and that "on the contrary" he had always pro- tected them. "The note you mentioned is a four-pager which I've been shown and which I have noth- ing to do with. I deny it all and I have said this in testimony and under oath," he said. Sources insisted the investi- gators assured them that the probe into Schembri was not over. Speaker says he cannot 'protect' Cardona in alleged frame-up by Keith Schembri During Thursday night's Cabinet meeting, ministers heard from investigators who detailed how a typed note had allegedly been passed on to Yorgen Fenech while in police custody directing him to pin the murder on Cardona and providing details of how this should be done.