Malta arrests prominent businessman over journalist’s murder

Yorgen Fenech was detained on his yacht over the assassination of Daphne Caruana Galizia

Yorgen Fenech was detained the day after an alleged middleman was offered a pardon if he identified the assassination's mastermind. AFP

Authorities in Malta have arrested a prominent Maltese businessman in connection with the murder of journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia.

Yorgen Fenech was detained after police stopped his yacht not far from the capital Valletta at dawn, Reuters reported.

Ms Caruana Galizia was assassinated by a car bomb in October 2017, months after reporting on a mystery company called "17 Black Limited" that alleged links to Maltese politicians.

She did not name the owner, but an investigation by Reuters identified him as Mr Fenech.

His arrest came a day after the government said it would offer pardon to a suspected middleman in the 2017 murder of Ms Caruana Galizia, if he provided legally binding evidence of who was behind the killing.

"I gave a mandate to the Attorney General to negotiate with the person’s lawyers to take an unprecedented step,” Prime Minister Joseph Muscat said.

He warned that if he had not done so, it could have become a case of a person of interest escaping.

“If the person collaborates and the information provided is sufficient to prosecute the mastermind of this crime, they will receive a presidential pardon,” he added.

Ms Caruana Galizia was an experienced investigative reporter adept at reporting on scandals and crime.