Man accused of Daphne Caruana Galizia murder wants court expert removed from case

Lawyers for Alfred Degiorgio, also known as ‘il-Fulu’, one of three men accused of the murder of journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia, have filed urgent proceedings asking for the removal of a court-appointed expert who is working on the case.

With the compilation of evidence due to continue on Monday, in an urgent constitutional application filed this morning by lawyer William Cuschieri, Degiorgio noted that lawyer Martin Bajada had been mentioned as having been nominated as a court expert in the magisterial inquiry into the murder of Daphne Caruana Galizia.

Quoting a 2016 case from the Court of Appeal, which laid down that if a there was a shadow cast over the integrity of a court expert, he should not participate in the judicial process as this would damage the trust of the parties and the public, the lawyer argued that Bajada’s continued presence in the investigation would breach Degiorgio’s human rights.

Bajada’s IT and mobile telephony-related expertise is understood to be crucial to the magisterial inquiry into the murder. While his appointment as court expert has been successfully attacked in the past on the strength of a 1993 conviction by a UK court, when Bajada had been working for Air Malta, despite the 25-year-old conviction, Bajada still enjoys the trust of members of the judiciary, who regularly appoint him to carry out tasks.

In the court papers, the lawyer requested the First Hall of the Civil Court in its Constitutional jurisdiction to declare Bajada’s appointment and its subsequent confirmation as a breach of Degiorgio’s right to a fair hearing, which he said, would continue to be breached were Bajada to carry out any further work on the case or even testify.

Furthermore, the lawyer demanded the expunging from the acts of the case of any work already completed by the expert.

Meanwhile, the compilation of evidence against Degiorgio, his brother George Degiorgio, also known as ‘Ic-Cinic’, and Vince Muscat, also known as ‘il-Kohhu’, who are all charged with carrying out the bombing which killed journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia, is expected to continue on Monday.