Judge warns lawyers in Yorgen Fenech murder case not to leak evidence

In what is considered as a stern rebuke to lawyers in the Yorgen Fenech murder case, Judge Edwina Grima reiterates that documents cannot be published or shared with third parties

The judge in the Yorgen Fenech case has reiterated a decree prohibiting the publication of documents in the media or their dissemination to third parties
The judge in the Yorgen Fenech case has reiterated a decree prohibiting the publication of documents in the media or their dissemination to third parties

Judge Edwina Grima has warned lawyers in the Yorgen Fenech murder case not to leak any evidence to the media or third parties.

In a new decree on Monday, the judge clarified that her ruling of 29 November 2021 prohibiting the publication or dissemination of documents in the case still stands.

The judge’s new decree came 48 hours after The Shift News published a misleading story on Saturday suggesting that the judge had ruled that Fenech’s WhatsApp chats are not banned and their publication is permitted.

Grima clarified that no documents in the case, unless presented in open court, can be published in any media, including social media.

However, the judge also stressed that her order applies to all lawyers involved in the case.

“The court prohibits the parties in the case and their respective lawyers to pass on copies of these documents to third parties, whoever they may be, even if they are people not involved in the media, unless granted special permission to do so by the court,” Grima ruled.

Judges are normally very prudent in the language they use and the mere fact that Grima chose to emphasise that her decree also applies to lawyers has been interpreted by people in the legal profession as a stern rebuke.

The ruling comes after a cache of WhatsApp chats extracted from Yorgen Fenech’s mobile phone were published by blogger Mark Camilleri a couple of months ago. The chats were exchanges between Fenech and then Labour MP Rosianne Cutajar.

Subsequently, Grima ordered the police to take criminal action against Camilleri for contempt of court.

Later on in May, MaltaToday’s managing director Saviour Balzan lifted the lid on attempts by lawyer Jason Azzopardi to blackmail him by disseminating chats obtained from Fenech’s phone.

Balzan said several exchanges he had with Fenech back in 2019 before the businessman was arrested and charged with Daphne Caruana Galizia’s murder were leaked to select journalists and bloggers.

Balzan pointed his finger at Azzopardi for the leaks. The lawyer represents the Caruana Galizia family as parte civile in murder proceedings against Fenech. As a party to the case, Azzopardi enjoys privileged access to all documents and evidence.