Judge denies being approached to give bail to Degiorgio brothers

Judge Antonio Mizzi has said he has released a declaration to police inspectors Keith Arnaud and Kurt Zahra, saying he was never approached on a request for bail for the Degorgio brothers, who are accused of murdering journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia.

The retired judge was named in taped conversations between the middleman in the Daphne Caruana Galizia murder, Melvin Theuma, and alleged mastermind Yorgen Fenech.

In the recordings, Fenech claimed that Keith Schembri, then the OPM chief of staff, had spoken to a "Mizzi" to urge him to grant the Degiorgio brothers and a third accused man, Vince Muscat, bail. The ‘Mizzi’ mentioned in the recordings was identified by Theuma as the former judge in court.

The Degiorgio and Muscat were arrested in December 2017 and remain in jail, with bail having been denied several times, including by Mizzi himself.

Mizzi, husband of former Labour MEP Marlene Mizzi, released the statement through lawyer Stephen Tonna Lowell, and said he had submitted a voluntary declaration to prosecuting officers in the case against Fenech.

Mizzi declared that nobody ever approached him or spoke to him regarding the two requests for bail submitted by the bothers.

He said he denied the two requests for bail on August 7 and October 2, 2018, respectively.