MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 29th November, 2019) Members of the Maltese cabinet are gathering for a late-night emergency meeting in the wake of developments in a probe into the assassination of investigative journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia that led to a political crisis, media reported.
Times of Malta reported that several ministers and parliamentary secretaries were seen entering the prime minister's office late on Thursday.
While the agenda of the meeting is unknown, the outlet suggested that the cabinet members would discuss the plea for pardon by businessman Yorgen Fenech, who was a suspect in the journalist murder probe, and the political crisis that followed the recent resignations of high-ranked officials.
"The situation is serious," Deputy Prime Minister Chris Fearne told reporters on his way into Castille, the prime minister's residence, as quoted by Times of Malta.
Fearne had refused to provide any details about the meeting, the outlet argued.
"We will inform the media of the proceedings once the meeting is over," Home Affairs and National Security Minister Michael Farrugia said, as quoted by the same outlet.
Times of Malta added, citing witnesses that the police commissioner and the attorney general had entered Castille from the back door.
Earlier this week, Maltese prime minister office's chief of staff, Keith Schembri, resigned and was detained as part of the probe into Caruana Galizia's murder. Moreover, Tourism Minister Konrad Mizzi has resigned, too.
Both officials were mentioned in materials published by the journalist before the assassination, which claimed that Schembri and Mizzi, alongside other officials, used Panama-based firms for illegal financial operations involving Dubai-based company 17 Black, allegedly linked to Fenech, something denied by the officials.
Moreover, Prime Minister Joseph Muscat has faced calls for resignation amid the crisis. Notably, Muscat and his family were also in the center of the journalists' investigation, based on the so-called Panama papers � leaked documents that revealed illegal finance practices of officials and public figures from various countries.
Caruana Galizia was killed by a car bomb outside her home in October 2017.
