Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1404527
3 maltatoday | WEDNESDAY • 25 AUGUST 2021 NEWS NICOLE MEILAK NATIONALIST MP Clyde Puli scathingly remarked on Tuesday that the party would never kill someone they don't agree with, and that a murder like that of Daphne Caruana Galizia never happened under the PN's ad- ministration. Puli was responding to a question by a journalist from the Labour Party's ONE news station, who asked whether he agrees with Repubblika's call for Adrian Delia to resign from the party if found to have been in contact with Yorgen Fenech after 17 Black revelations. Puli said that NGOs have every right to make their own criticism, and that everyone is subject to their opinion. "The one thing we don't do to people we don't agree with is kill them. We never had a murder like that happen in our time," he stated, referring to the murder of journalist Daph- ne Caruana Galizia. "Instead of asking questions like this, it's better for us to discuss how to implement the recommendations of the [pub- lic inquiry] report made so that our country can get itself out of the dirt it got itself in," he said. Puli added that if someone from the Labour Party feels that a member of the National- ist Party did something wrong, they should flag this with the relevant institutions. "We know that there was un- necessary closeness between certain people," he continued. "I don't think dining with a person is bad, but we need to look at the context." A public inquiry into the murder of Daphne Caruana Galizia held the state respon- sible for creating a culture of impunity that facilitated the assassination. Since her mur- der in 2017, three people have been arrested for carrying out the assassination, while the Tu- mas Group's business magnate Yorgen Fenech is facing court proceedings for having master- minded the murder. Since his arrest, countless reports have revealed the inti- mate relationships Fenech held with both Labour and Nation- alist Party members. Most re- cently, it was revealed that Jus- tice Minister Edward Zammit Lewis would often ask Fenech for jobs within the Tumas em- pire whenever his supporters were in need of work. A more devastating report showed a friendly WhatsApp chat between the two where Zammit Lewis referred to La- bour Party voters as 'Ġaħan Laburisti'. Despite the flak, and admitting that he dined and chatted with Fenech, Zammit Lewis defended his position as justice minister and said he has no intentions of resigning. On the Nationalist Party's side, former party leader Adri- an Delia also reportedly shared friendly WhatsApp exchang- es with the Tumas magnate. A February 2019 conversation saw Fenech asking Delia "How are you holding up?", while another message said "I think about you but I don't want to bother you and add myself to the list of botherers you have." MP Jason Azzopardi faced similar controversy after ben- efitting from a free stay at the Hilton in Tel Aviv fully fi- nanced by Tumas Group. Puli opens fire on Labour: 'A murder like Daphne's never happened under us' Clyde Puli CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 "The day after…whilst Mr. Justice Grixti had been deliberating on the bail decree, the parte civile lawyer Jason Azzopardi, together with blog- ger Manuel Delia began a systemat- ic attack against Mr. Justice Grixti, where they insulted him in what the applicant sees as a concentrated ef- fort to influence the bail decision." Delia on his blog and Azzopardi on his Facebook profile had broken the story that Mr. Justice Grixti had bought a 50ft motor yacht, named Spensierata, from Fenech's father, George, in 2008 when he was al- ready a magistrate. The lawyers alleged that Azzopar- di had insinuated that the judge was prejudiced, partial and dishonest, pointing out that he had written to the Chief Justice asking that he in- tervene. "All this because in 2008, 13 years ago, the Judge bought a boat from the applicant's father, Mr. George Fenech." Fenech has been held in preventive custody for the past two years. His bail request had been filed days after the Attorney General had issued the Bill of Indictment against Fenech, effectively resetting the clock on au- tomatic bail just before it ran out. His lawyers argued that the actions of Azzopardi and Delia constituted a crime against the administration of justice which is prosecutable ex offi- cio – not requiring the complaint of the injured party. The police had already been made aware of this, said the lawyers, ex- plaining that they had not been made aware of whether the police had started investigating the publi- cations. "The applicant wants that this investigation, if it has not al- ready begun, be started immediate- ly," demanded the judicial protest. Similar publications were a regu- lar occurrence which were creating prejudice against the applicant and were "breaching his fundamental right to a fair trial by undermining the trust in the judicial process, in particular the independence and im- partiality of the judiciary." Lawyers Gianluca Caruana Curran, Marion Camilleri and Charles Mer- cieca signed the judicial protest. Fenech has been held in preventive custody for the past two years Lawyers alleged that Azzopardi insinuated the judge was 'prejudiced, partial and dishonest'