Former Assistant Police Commissioner Silvio Valletta says he did not know Yorgen Fenech was a suspect in the assassination of journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia when he went on holiday with him in September 2018.

Fenech was first identified as a person of interest in May 2018. Earlier, the Times of Malta reported that Valletta, who is also the husband of Gozo Minister Justyne Caruana, travelled to London with Fenech to watch Liverpool take on Chelsea at Stamford Bridge.

Meanwhile, PN Leader Adrian Delia has called on newly appointed Prime Minister Robert Abela to show that he means business and take action.

“Dr Abela, did you know that Silvio Valletta travelled with Yorgen Fenech? If you did know, do you think it is acceptable for Dr Caruana to still be a minister? If you did not know, now is the time to show us that you can take action,” Delia told a crowd in Naxxar.

In a statement released after the article, Valletta admitted to the holiday but said:

“After reports in the media concerning me, I am declaring the following: I never knew about the involvement of Fenech in the case.”

“After the Constitutional Court’s decision of 13 June 2018, I informed the police corps that I was going to stop my involvement in the investigations immediately, as I in fact did.”

“When I was in the FIAU board I was not privy on [the Unit’s] reports or about whom they were.”

“I had decided to not continue working in the corps because of the criticism levied at my wife.”