Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1499169
FOR the past six years, I have sustained accusations of having been close to the powers that be. There has been constant ru- mour-mongering, and recent- ly, a blackmail of sorts about WhatsApp chats being pub- lished. The origin? None other than... Jason Azzopardi. Because of the nature of my business – a media company, I have always kept an open line to numerous people - those in politics and business included of course. The narrative being fanned now is that since I knew someone directly or indirectly connected to the accused in the Daphne Caruana Galizia assassi- nation, then I deserve maximum reputational damage. Daphne and I were each other's critics. It was a war of words – not bullets. We both employed styles that were both were direct, cruel and unrelenting. But it was not until 19 Novem- ber, 2019, when Yorgen Fenech was arrested, that it became clear to me that Keith Schembri and Joseph Muscat had hidden facts, and deceived and manipulated people to allow for another sto- ryline to develop. I could never have imagined the extent of this deception and the malicious in- tent of these people. I had given the Muscat admin- istration more than the benefit of the doubt. Unlike a vocifer- ous posse of viscerally anti-La- bourites I do not subscribe to the creed that the Labour Party is all wrong. I do not feel the need to apol- ogise for believing that Muscat was a worthy replacement for the stuffiness and apartheid poli- tics of the Gonzi years. And back then, I had no reason to believe that a successful paper merchant, Keith Schembri, could be a shady character and had mapped out a roadmap of riches through his immersion in the structures of power. And then, all the way up to November 2019, I also could not believe that the Tumas mag- nate Yorgen Fenech, the man who inherited an empire from his father George, had been sus- pected of masterminding a jour- nalist's assassination. Our errors of judgement abound without the daylight of facts. I knew Yorgen Fenech as a former student of mine, he was quiet and unassuming, when I was a teacher at a private senior school. I knew his family and his father George, the CEO of the Tumas Group who also courted the entire gamut of politicians, businessmen, and for some, even journalists, Daphne included. I had differences with his father, because of the Hilton project which I vehemently opposed and his sponsorship for several years of the Press Club (IGM). In my mind, I would have never imagined that Yorgen – now the CEO of his father's business em- pire – was a suspect in this assas- sination. To be clear, I was not part of these circles of high-fly- ing businessmen. I remember his father, just before his death, tell- ing me to "look after his son" – a kind of gentle appeal to a former teacher, I thought, who now had become a newspaper owner. In 2014, after his father's de- mise, the young and wealthy Yorgen asked me to be his con- sultant and of course I did not accept. Yet only last week a journalist from Newsbook asked me if I was Yorgen's consultant making reference to chats. I asked that journalist to look at some of the past directors appointed in Janu- ary 2020 of Beacon Co. Ltd, the owner of Newsbook, if he want- ed to root out Yorgen's PR con- sultants and business associates. Before 2019, Yorgen Fenech was not a derided character, on the contrary he was sought after by dozens of professionals, pol- iticians and businessmen of all colours and creed. Indeed in a confidential document prepared by Europol and given to Magis- trate Anthony Vella in May 2018, Yorgen Fenech was not even mentioned once. Other private and public people were noted as persons of interest and they included people known to Jason Azzopardi, who leaked the document to select members of the press. Strangely, for rea- sons which I know not of, this Europol report has disappeared as a court document. On the very few occasions I met Yorgen, I met him to seek adver- tising campaigns, naturally to benefit my media house. Com- pared to other newspaper titles, our share of this Tumas pie was very minimal to say the least. On other occasions, Fenech would ask me for advice on tackling the media. I confronted him about the 17 Black rumours, asking him if it was true. He naturally enough, vehemently denied, told me he had nothing to do with it, and then narrated a fantastical story. I asked him to deny it. He did not. And my editors and newspapers never faltered from lambasting the 17 Black/Yorgen connection as is expected from independent newsrooms. In the six years from 2014 to 2019, I met Yorgen Fenech once for lunch at the Hilton, and an- other time, socially. Nothing in- appropriate took place at these meetings. In November 2019 just be- fore Yorgen's arrest, his uncle Ray Fenech – known to many as 'Jumbo' – asked to meet me. When we did meet he said he was very worried over his neph- ew. "Something is wrong… can you meet up with him and see what is the matter?" Ray Fenech also expressed his concerns over the Electrogas allegations; I told him that he should come clean and tell the media his side of the story. Attempts to meet Yorgen at this point never materialised and I was completely unaware of his dependency on drugs or his oth- er intentions before his eventual arrest. In November 2019, at Fenech's arrest, everyone was shocked by the revelations and worse still the direct link to Castille. In that instant moment of realisation, I volunteered to give evidence to the Daphne Caruana Galizia public inquiry. It was very hard for me but I was willing to swal- low my pride and to tell it as it is. I gave evidence in four, very long private sessions in which I pre- sented a very detailed timeline of events, provided new infor- mation that could shed light on the attempts by the powers that be to deceive, steer the media and journalists away from the re- al facts, and the intention of the culprits and players in this very upsetting dark episode. I left no stone unturned and recounted everything I knew. What I revealed to the public inquiry contained very pertinent facts, which I willingly did de- spite not being obliged to. Hope- fully I will publish my deposition when the time is opportune. My deposition took place in the presence of the Caruana Galizia family and their legal counsels, including Jason Azzopardi. The reason I bring this up once again for the umpteenth time is because over the course of the last few weeks, I have been un- der constant threat – yet again – because of WhatsApp texts exchanged with Yorgen Fenech in 2019, being leaked... even though there is nothing remotely incriminating about them. Fenech's messages were down- loaded by Europol and then one person with access to them (Ja- son Azzopardi) selected particu- lar messages of his choice, unre- lated to the case and weaponised them for his own intentions con- veniently ignoring his own re- cent personal connections to the Tumas Group. Even though there have been clear court decisions pertaining to a ban on the public dissem- ination of these chats, more so those which are not relevant to the criminal proceedings, Ja- son Azzopardi has leaked chats with the specific aim of causing as much damage he can to cer- tain people or companies. He not only abuses his position but is breaking the law. Before the Yorgen Fenech ar- rest he leaked other documents to journalists including part of the Europol report finalised in May 2018 which at the time made a reference to a well- known businessman (not Yor- Saviour Balzan Who can live under the sword of blackmail? 4 maltatoday | SUNDAY • 14 MAY 2023 OPINION OPINION [Yorgen] Fenech's messages were downloaded by Europol and then one person with access to them (Jason Azzopardi) selected particular messages of his choice, unrelated to the case and weaponised them for his own intentions conveniently ignoring his own recent personal connections to the Tumas Group