Caruana Galizia public inquiry: ex-Muscat security official Kenneth Camilleri never told Keith Schembri of his contact with Melvin Theuma

12:53 The next sitting of the public inquiry is scheduled for 4 March at 12pm. There is no indication at this time of who will be giving testimony next week Massimo Costa

12:52 The next sitting was meant to take place on 2 March, when former OPM communications head Kurt Farrugia was due to take the witness stand. Farrugia, however, requested a postponement of his questioning since he will be abroad. The board upheld the request and reserved the right to advise Farrugia with the date and time of when he will be summoned to give testimony Massimo Costa

12:51 This concludes today's sitting Massimo Costa

12:50 Kenneth Camilleri’s testimony ends here Massimo Costa

12:50 Further questioning regarding Theuma is stopped due to the fact that Camilleri is going to testifyb on the matter at Yorgen Fenech’s compilation of evidence Massimo Costa

12:48 Although they were friends, Camilleri says he didn’t know who Gafà reported to when he returned from his visits to Libya Massimo Costa

12:47 Gafà, Camilleri says, had spoken to him as a friend. “We support each other,” Camilleri says Massimo Costa

12:47 Asked when the last time he spoke to Neville Gafà was, Camilleri says that he had spoken to Gafà the day after he (Gafà) had given testimony at the public inquiry. Gafà had testified on 19 February Massimo Costa

12:45 “When I finished my 25 years [service with the police corps], Ronnie Pellegrini had asked me if I wanted to help him in the agency, and I accepted,” Camilleri says of how he had come to work a Transport Malta Massimo Costa

12:45 Caruana Galizia family lawyer Jason Azzopardi asks Camilleri about his move to Transport Malta. Camilleri says he occupied the post of enforcement senior manager at TM. He says there was no public call issued for the post Massimo Costa

12:44 The subject moves on to other matters. Camilleri speaks about Keith Schembri, describing him as a colleague. He says, however, that he had not spoken to Schembri in a long time. “Keith Arnaud asked me about this too,” Camilleri says Massimo Costa

12:43 Camilleri tells the board that the police had sent for him in connection with what Melvin Theuma had testified in court. Camilleri says that he is due to testify on the matter on 27 March, during the compilation of evidence against Yorgen Fenech. The board allows him not to reply to questions related to this matter Massimo Costa

12:39 The inquiry board now asks Camilleri whether he had ever seen Yorgen Fenech at Castille. Camilleri says that which he knew Matthew Fenech of the Tumas Group, he had never seen Yorgen Fenech. "No. I am sure that I never saw him [at Castille],” he says. He is reminded that he is under oath. "I confirm, never" Massimo Costa

12:37 Asked again whether he would ever read Caruana Galizia's blog, Camilleri says that he would read stories she wrote which were critical of Joseph Muscat’s security detail Massimo Costa

12:37 “You are telling us that you shared posts about the subject and that you don't know anything about them or spoke to anyone about them,” former judge Mallia says. "I shared them out of a partisan spirit,” Camilleri replies Massimo Costa

12:36 Camilleri insists that he could have merely come across a Facebook post on someone and would share it. He denied ever following Caruana Galizia’s writings. But board chair former judge Michael Mallia is unconvinced Massimo Costa

12:34 Judge Lofaro is pressing Camilleri about the Panama Papers-related post he had shared on Facebook - although he claimed he didn’t understand the subject. “Didn't you read the post before sharing it?' Lofaro asks. She points out that he cannot say that he does not understand about anything related to the Panama Papers but then admits sharing posts related to Panama Papers Massimo Costa

12:33 Camilleri says that he had never spoken Gafà about the Panama Papers, but that if he had shared a post on Facebook on the subject, then that was a fact Massimo Costa

12:32 Inquiry board member judge Abigail Lofaro points out that Camilleri said he had shared social media posts about the Panama Papers, while at the same time he had also said he didn’t understand anything about the Panama Papers Massimo Costa

12:31 Asked by the board, Camilleri doesn’t deny that he might have shared social media posts inciting hatred against Caruana Galizia Massimo Costa

12:31 The board asks Camilleri what he and Gafà would discuss. He says they would talk about “everything but his work”. Asked if they spoke about Daphne Caruana Galizia, Camilleri says they had when on one occasion the late journalist had written about Muscat’s security detail Massimo Costa

12:29 Camilleri says Gafà and Tajouri had discussed matters in private. Gafà spoke Arabic, and no interpreter was needed. "I would normally be taking care of security. On one occasion [during a meeting Gafà had], I was allowed inside, but they were in a large room and I was taking care of the doors. I didn't overhear anything,” Camilleri tells the board Massimo Costa

12:28 Camilleri now recounts an event which happened while he was on a Libya visit with Gafà. “One time in Libya, while we were at a square, someone wearing a Juventus kit came to speak to [Gafà],” he says. Jason Azzopardi suggests the person in question could have been named Tajouri. Camilleri confirms that was the person in question’s name Massimo Costa

12:25 Inquiry board member chief justice emeritus Joseph Said Pullicino remarks that it is hard to believe that Camilleri has no idea what Gafà used to discuss in the Libya meetings, given that he was his close friend and associate Massimo Costa

12:24 Camilleri says that Gafà would visit government ministries in Libya. He says, however, that he has no knowledge of what would be discussed Massimo Costa

12:23 Camilleri says that he had gone to Libya with Neville Gafà. Arthur Gerard, from the Foreign Affairs Ministry, would contact him directly and ask if he wanted to accompany VIPs abroad, he says. “Gafà had asked me if I wanted to come with him and I had accepted. I would go to accompany him more than for protection. I was never armed when I went abroad with Gafà,” Camilleri tells the board Massimo Costa

12:20 Camilleri tells the board that he would take instructions from Ray Baraba, who has just given testimony Massimo Costa

12:20 Camilleri says that, before his Transport Malta job, he had worked in the police force as a constable, and was subsequently, in 2013, assigned to form part of the Malta Security Service security detail for Joseph Muscat. Camilleri tells the board that he had resigned from the police force on 22 January 2019, after 25 years of service Massimo Costa

12:17 Kenneth Camilleri tells the inquiry board that he worked at Transport Malta, but has since been suspended “because he was mentioned in the news” Massimo Costa

12:17 Kenneth Camilleri has now taken the witness stand Massimo Costa

12:17 Caruana Galizia family lawyer Andrew Borg Cardona addressed the inquiry board. He says that on the Facebook page of the public broadcaster, TVM, many comments are being posted in connection with the public inquiry which feature “a certain viciousness”. Borg Cardona says that further character assassination of Caruana Galizia is being allowed, even now that she is dead. This, he says, in indicative as to how the State continues to campaign against Caruana Galizia and her family. The judges, who are not on Facebook, say they are surprised at this. A dossier on the matter will be presented Massimo Costa

12:13 Ray Barbara's testimony is over. He steps down from the witness stand Massimo Costa

12:12 Barbara is asked whether the name Turab Musayev - an Azeri Electrogas director for SOCAR who resigned soon after Yorgen Fenech was charged with masterminding the Caruana Galizia murder - ever featured in Joseph Muscat’s meetings diary. He tells the board that he can’t recall Massimo Costa

12:10 The topic turns to the incident in November 2019 when journalists were locked in Castille after a conference in the very early hours of morning addressed by Joseph Muscat. Barbara says that he did not witness what had happened. “I didn't see any of it. I was in my office, in Castille... the press conference was on the other side of Castille,” Barbara says Massimo Costa

12:07 Azzopardi asks Barbara whether he was familiar with the name Paul Apap Bologna and Mark Gasan. He answers that he wasn’t sure whether appointments with the two individuals were ever in Muscat’s diary Massimo Costa

12:07 Caruana Galizia family lawyer Jason Azzopardi now asks Barbara whether SOCAR or Electrogas ever featured in Joseph Muscat’s diary. Barbara says they wouldn’t, because appointments would only refer to individuals (not companies or consortiums) Massimo Costa

12:05 Barabara is now asked who Keith Schembri's personal secretary was. "There were a number of people,” he responds. He is asked whether he knows anyone by the surname Farrugia Bianco. "Yes, Charlene. She used to work there, I don't know what her role was,” Barbara says. It is unclear what this line of questioning relates to Massimo Costa

12:04 Asked to elaborate on the reaction of Muscat and Keith Schembri to the Egrant allegations, Barbara says that Muscat was shocked, but that he hadn’t seen Schembri at the time Massimo Costa

12:03 The subject now turns to the allegations concerning Egrant made by Daphne Caruana Galizia. Barbara says that the claims Caruana Galizia had made that Michelle Muscat owned the secret Panamanian company had made Joseph Muscat “very angry” Massimo Costa

12:00 The inquiry board asks Barbara about his social media habits. "I'm not very active on social media,” he says. He tells the board that he might have retweeted some posts originally posted on Twitter by people like of Glenn Bedingfield, and others. He denies, however, sharing any posts linking the murder of Caruana Galizia to oil smuggling Massimo Costa

11:57 Barbara is now shown a photograph of a man, who he identifies as Ronnie Vella. Vella worked at Castille in the communications office when Muscat was prime minister, Barbara says. Vella is no longer employed as Castille, having stopped doing so when Muscat stepped down, he says Massimo Costa

11:55 Barbara is asked for the names of the members of the prime minister’s MSS security detail. He provides the board the names, but these are prohibited from being published in the media for security reasons Massimo Costa

11:54 Barbara adds that we wouldn’t be aware of some Malta Security Service team members providing the prime minister with security were on annual leave or had been replaced by other MSS officials Massimo Costa

11:53 Barbara tells the inquiry board that the prime minister’s security was the responsibility of the Malta Security Service. “There is a group of six people, two teams, working day on, day off. I would tell them to go to the prime minister’s house, and to go there or there” Massimo Costa

11:48 Asked whether any discussion on Caruana Glaizia's blog ever took place in Castille, Barbara says he has no knowledge of any such discussions Massimo Costa

11:48 Former judge Michael Mallia, chairing the inquiry board, asks Barbara whether, as a person who took care of the prime minister’s diary, he knew about all of the prime minister’s movements. Barbara responds in the affirmative Massimo Costa

11:47 "I definitely never sent for Yorgen Fenech. I found out about him from the newspapers,” Barbara tells the inquiry board Massimo Costa

11:45 Asked by the board if former prime minister Joseph Muscat ever met with certain persons who might have been controversial, Barbara says he didn’t recall this happening. However, when asked if he ever met Gasan Group chairman Joe Gasan - one of the directors of the Electrogas power station consortium GEM Holdings - Barbara says he did. When it came to Yorgen Fenech or other Hilton Group directors, Barbara says he had never met them, however Massimo Costa

11:43 Barbara tells the board that he was not informed on who was responsible for taking minutes during meetings involving the Prime Minister. He says he has an office in Castille, which is next to the prime minister’s office. The two offices are segregated from the rest of the prime minister’s secretariat, he says Massimo Costa

11:42 "My duties are mainly taking care of the Prime Minister's diary, scheduling appointments and meetings. I never attended meetings,” Barbara says Massimo Costa

11:42 Barbara, who had worked with Joseph Muscat as a Personal Assistant since 2011, tells the inquiry board that he is “not deemed to be a government employee” Massimo Costa

11:41 The board now starts questioning Barbara. Asked whether he works with the government, Barbara says that he does not, but is a person of trust with the Prime Minister. Previous to this, he was employed with telecommunications company GO as a technician, he says Massimo Costa

11:40 Ray Barbara is called to testify. He is being assisted by lawyer Jonathan Attard Massimo Costa

11:40 Corinne Vella steps down from the witness stand Massimo Costa

11:39 Vella now tells the inquiry board that Keith Camilleri - due to testify today - had published an article on the Italian media, insinuating that Daphne had been killed by the Nationalist Opposition, the day after the murder. She says that a number of social media posts were also collected from around the same time, some of which attached Daphne’s family. One of the posts repeated the claim that Caruana Galizia had been blackmailing former PN leader Simon Busuttil in order to control the Nationalist Party, Vella says Massimo Costa

11:36 “Although you might not have a malign intent, the use of private email servers works to deprive your employer of access to the information when you no longer work with him,” Vella says Massimo Costa

11:36 Vella tells the inquiry board that the addresses [email protected] and [email protected] - apparently belonging to Joseph Muscat and Keith Schembri respectively - which she says were used “to plot SLAPP lawsuits again Daphne Caruana Galizia”, were utilising the Gmail platform in terms of their underlying email infrastructure Massimo Costa

11:34 "Any email which doesn't use the government email address is outside the reach of the auditor's office," Vella says Massimo Costa

11:34 Vella continues giving testimony connected with Ray Barbara. She says that Barbara appears to have an email address with the domain name josephmuscat.com. She says that Barbara had used this email to confirm a meeting with civil society group OccupyJustice Massimo Costa

11:29 Barbara is currently employed as a Personal Assistant to Robert Abela Massimo Costa

11:28 Vella says that Ray Barbara had shadowed Joseph Muscat very closely before the election. "Ray Barbara always appears to be there and is very devoted and very trusted. There is nothing intrinsically wrong with that, but he could be in a position to know the prime minister's movements and contacts,” Vella says Massimo Costa

11:27 The session starts with Daphne Caruana Galizia’s sister, Corinne Vella, taking the witness stand. She submits to the inquiry board a documents which she says contains facts relevant to the inquiry Massimo Costa

11:23 The judges have now entered the courtroom Massimo Costa

11:10 Lawyers Christian Falzon Scerri and Maurizio Cordina are appearing for the State Advocate's office Massimo Costa

11:09 Both witnesses are in the courtroom Massimo Costa

11:08 Two persons are expected to testify today: Ray Barbara, who had served as Muscat’s personal assistant since 2013; and Kenneth Camilleri, who had been part of Joseph Muscat’s security detail and was mentioned by suspected Caruana Galizia murder middleman Melvin Theuma as having relayed a bail message to the three main accused of executing the journalist’s murder Massimo Costa

11:08 Good morning. We are back in court for the continuation of the public inquiry into Daphne Caruana Galizia’s assassination Massimo Costa

Kenneth Camilleri, a former security official assigned to Joseph Muscat's detail, told the public inquiry into Daphne Caruana Galizia's murder that he had spoken to Melvin Theuma and never told Keith Schembri about it.

Theuma, the suspected middleman in the Caruana Galizia assassination who was given a presidential pardon to reveal all, had claimed in court that Camilleri had relayed a message that promised bail for the three men accused of executing the journalist's murder.

The same “Kenneth from Castille”, Theuma had alleged, had said in a message that Alfred Degiorgio, Geoge Degiorgio and Vince Muscat, were to receive “one million each after getting bail.”

Camilleri, who was giving testimony before the public inquiry on Friday, said he spoke to Theuma on four occasions, and confimed the police had sent for him in connection with the alleged middleman's testimony.

After he was mentioned in Theuma's court testimony, Camilleri confirmed he was suspended from a job he held with Transport Malta.

The board, however, allowed Camilleri to refrain from giving more testimony in connection with Theuma, in view of the fact that he is due to appear as a witness on 27 March in the compilation of evidence against Yorgen Fenech, who is accused of masterminding the car bomb murder.

Camilleri said to the board that he had accompanied Neville Gafà on trips to Libya and confirmed that the former OPM official - who himself gave tesimony before the inquiry board earlier this month - had met with senior Libyan militia leader Haithem Tajouri. Camilleri, however, said he was not privy to what Gafà would discuss during meetings with officials from Libya.

Gafa would speak Arabic at the meetings and Camilleri said he did not understand the language.

Under oath, Camilleri also said that he had never seen Yorgen Fenech at Castille.

Ray Barbara, a former personal assistant to Muscat and current PA to Prime Minister Robert Abela, also took the witness stand today.

He said that when Muscat had heard the allegation by Caruana Galizia that Egrant was owned by Michelle Muscat, the former prime minister had been "very angry."

The public inquiry is expected to continue on 4 March.

Former judge Michael Mallia is chairing the inquiry board, while Chief Justice Emeritus Joseph Said Pullicino and Judge Abigail Lofaro are the board’s other two members. The inquiry's terms of reference stipulate that it must be concluded within nine months.