Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1268420
4 maltatoday | SUNDAY • 12 JULY 2020 NEWS CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 But a source privy to the re- cordings says Theuma was kept in the know of legal de- velopments known only to po- lice and the Attorney General, when Muscat started sharing what he knew of the assassi- nation plot in exchange for a pardon. In the conversations, Cre- mona – a business associate of Fenech's who knew Keith Schembri – informs Theuma that Muscat was engaged in a plea bargain with the deputy Attorney General, Philip Galea Farrugia, but that the offer he was made had been refused. Cremona specifically told Theuma that Muscat had been offered a 30-year sentence, but that the accused had refused it. "The recordings between Cremona and Theuma clear- ly have Cremona telling the middleman not to tell Yorgen Fenech of the information he is being given. Cremona says 'you know what Kohhu… look… tomorrow he's going to say that what he said about you what false, right? Which means, Keith was protecting you without telling anyone… because it benefits him.'" The source suggests that Cre- mona was telling Theuma that after Muscat did not get an offer for a drastically reduced prison sentence, he was re- canting all he had told the po- lice. In an ostensible reference to Keith Schembri, he claims the positive outcome for Theu- ma – since the middleman was known to Muscat – was down to some form of protection he was getting. At the time, Schembri was well-placed to know many de- tails on the Caruana Galizia investigation given that he was privy to the Security Service briefings given to Joseph Mus- cat. According to MaltaToday's source, in their conversation Cremona is heard showing Theuma a piece of paper to prove that Muscat was not proceeding on the pardon. "He tells Theuma, 'do you under- stand, he did not accept the deal… these guys don't care… I asked for this favour myself… I'm here with facts, not words, he doesn't want the 30 years." In December 2019, Muscat – one of the three men accused of the Caruana Galizia murder – wrote through his lawyer Ar- thur Azzopardi, requesting a pardon from the President of the Republic George Vella in return for "all the information he knows on various facts" – hinting that Schembri himself had been decisive in the failure of an earlier pardon attempt. The letter had said: "Back in April 2018 Vincent Mus- cat had met with and spoken to the officer in charge of the investigation of this case, In- spector Keith Arnaud. This can be confirmed by the In- spector himself. Following this encounter, a number of other meetings were held with In- spector Arnaud where Vincent Muscat had provided informa- tion that is turning out to be crucial for substantial progress being made towards solving this case." "For example, thanks to the information provided by Vin- cent Muscat, the investigations narrowed in on, followed and subsequently arrested a certain Melvin Theuma. This arrest took place during November of this year. "In the past days, Your Excel- lency has accepted the recom- mendation of the Prime Minis- ter to grant a pardon to Melvin Theuma. The irony in this is that this same person that Vincent Muscat mentioned to the investigators is now being brought by the prosecution to give evidence against Vincent Muscat himself." Muscat has maintained that the information he provided to Inspector Arnaud was what, in fact, led to the arrest of Melvin Theuma. But the prosecu- tion had only requested that Melvin Theuma testifies be- fore the Court of Magistrates on 26 November 2019 – that is almost four months after the Attorney General had issued the Bill of Indictment against Muscat and the other co-ac- cused, and when the prelimi- nary pleas before the Criminal Court had been submitted and oral submissions nearing their end. Vincent Muscat had already started co-operating with In- spector Arnaud and working towards obtaining the prerog- ative of mercy in return, read the letter. He implied that Keith Schem- bri had worked to have his pardon denied: "...in view of the revelations emerging in the past days, Vincent Mus- cat is deeply concerned that his first request to be granted the prerogative of mercy might not have been handled in the proper, correct and just man- ner. This concern results from the possibility that a person or persons having a possible direct or indirect interest in diverting or delaying these in- vestigations was being updated on the investigations and also on the request for mercy made by Vincent Muscat." Secret plea bargain was leaked to Melvin Theuma