Caruana Galizia inquiry | ‘Schembri pushed fuel smuggling narrative despite knowledge of murder investigation’

Two days after Christmas the public inquiry into Daphne Caruana Galizia’s assassination continued with testimony of the journalist's two sons and sister

27 December 2019, 9:03am
by David Hudson

4 min read

The public inquiry into the murder of Daphne Caruana Galizia is being led by former judge Michael Mallia

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11:31 Today's sitting is over. Thank you for following this live blog. Kurt Sansone

11:31 The next sitting has been set for 7 January at 2pm and the another for 9 January at 2pm. Kurt Sansone

11:30 The inquiry president Michael Mallia says former police commissioners John Rizzo, Peter Paul Zammit and incumbent Lawrence Cutajar should be testifying in the next sitting. Kurt Sansone

11:29 Comodini Cachia tells the murder inquiry that former police commissioner John Rizzo should testify in the next session. Kurt Sansone

11:27 Corinne's testimony has concluded. The inquiry members do not have any questions at this stage and neither does lawyer Therese Comodini Cachia. Kurt Sansone

11:27 Corinne also mentions db Group chairman Silvio Debono who had filed 19 libel cases against Daphne, something Debono could do because he had money. "Chris Cardona and his aide Joe Gerada also took a false oath so that Daphne's accounts could be frozen," Corinne adds. Kurt Sansone

11:26 Before the murder, Corinne Vella says that there were plenty of attempts to discredit her sister and weaken her writing. She mentions how the Office of the Prime Minister had put pressure on the The Malta Independent to let go of Daphne as a columnist, promising more revenue for the newspaper if it did so. Corinne added that the last time she saw Daphne, she had been writing her Independent column. Kurt Sansone

11:21 "This shows the government's intention to target Daphne. One can file a libel case out of malicious intent, tying up a journalist and her money for, potentially, years on end. The effect is unquantifiable, and journalists today are operating in an environment where they can put their own family in financial risk as well," she says. Kurt Sansone

11:20 Corinne Vella says that more than 70% of the 47 libel cases that Daphne was facing were filed by members of the government and these never sought alternative means to defend themselves. Kurt Sansone

11:12 "In April 2016, Malta signed the recommendation of the Council of Europe on the safety of journalists, on the same month that the murder plot was initiated. This is the same month that the Panama Papers had broken in the world," she says. By the end of the year, such recommendations had yet to be implemented in Malta. Kurt Sansone

11:11 Corinne says that The Times, MaltaToday, Independent and Lovin Malta were threatened by the bank via letters. Kurt Sansone

11:09 "When Daphne reported on Pilatus bank... even as the bank and people in power were attempting to discredit the story, other news portals were picking up their response, not Daphne's story. All the media were threatened with legal action being taken against them by the banks," Corinne says, adding that the bank systematically went to all independent media to threaten them SLAPP lawsuits. Kurt Sansone

11:03 "Daphne's murder was presented as an aberration during a very successful year. People were urged to move on. But Daphne's death was not an aberration but the revelation of the corruption under that success," Corinne says. Kurt Sansone

11:03 "It's still online but that's only because there was persistence to keep it there," she says. Corinne also mentions Glenn Bedingfield's call for the temporary memorial for the journalist across the law courts to be cleared up. Kurt Sansone

11:02 Corinne Vella says that the assassination is not the final step. The next step after the murder is annihilation and that after Daphne was killed, there were many attempts to put down her blog. Kurt Sansone

11:02 “I looked at news footage, saw all types of people there. The Police Commissioner’s absence from the crime scene downplays the seriousness of the crime. He has been absent from all kinds of communication on the assassination. He has not given any information on the investigation. The Police Commissioner should be called into account not only for his systemic failures but for his own behaviour... where was he at the time of the crime?” Kurt Sansone

11:01 Throughout the murder investigations, Corinne says that she had never encountered Police Commissioner Lawrence Cutajar. She says that he was not present at the crime scene. Kurt Sansone

11:00 Corinne says that the assassination of her sister speaks for itself since Daphne could no longer carry on her work. Kurt Sansone

11:00 Corinne adds: "Neville Gafa should also be summoned. There has been no explanation as to his role in government… This list is not exhaustive. I'm sure there are others who should be asked to testify but these are the key individuals." Kurt Sansone

10:59 Former Labour MEP candidate Josef Caruana, who also worked at Castille, should also be called in for questioning, Corinne says, adding that he had initiated the narrative that Daphne's son, Matthew, had somehow facilitated the murder. Kurt Sansone

10:56 "Farrugia has since moved into a lucrative post as CEO of Malta Enterprise, essentially buying his silence," Corinne says, adding that Glenn Bedingfield should also be called into questioning for his hate campaigns. Kurt Sansone

10:56 She says that Keith Schembri, Joseph Muscat, Kurt Farrugia (the former head of government communications), should be called into questioning. She adds that Kurt Farrugia in his role as PR for the government, had previously instructed journalists not to ask about corruption, scandals and Daphne Caruana Galizia. Kurt Sansone

10:55 Corinne says that plenty of people were part of the communications branch of the Labour government with many people blocking access to information from the government rather than inviting journalists. Kurt Sansone

10:51 Corinne says that Joseph Muscat once said in 2016 that he had faith in anyone he trusted and had faith in Keith Schembri's integrity. "It's very disturbing knowing what we know now, that the Prime Minister chose a man now implicated in Daphne's murder." Kurt Sansone

10:51 “Large swathes of the population did not have access to what Daphne wrote but were bombarded by propaganda on a daily basis. She was constantly demonised. This served as assuring impunity for people in power and setting up Daphne as a target," Corinne tells the inquiry board members. Kurt Sansone

10:50 Corinne Vella says Malta's broadcast spectrum is dominated by the political party media, insisting there is no real independent channel. Kurt Sansone

10:49 QUICK REMINDER: We are reporting from the law courts where the third session of the public inquiry into Daphne Caruana Galizia’s assassination is underway. Caruana Galizia’s sons, Paul and Andrew, have already testified. Her sister Corinne Vella is now on the witness stand. Kurt Sansone

10:48 Corinne adds that the government and its branches never had any interest in what Daphne reported. Kurt Sansone

10:47 “A One TV programme, 'Tagħna t-Tnejn', portrayed Daphne as a witch and propagandist. In the regular segment, she was never once referred to by name. The programme ran between 2016 and 2017. On 27 April 2017, when the plot to kill Daphne was already into effect, the main guest on the progamme was the Prime Minister Joseph Muscat,” Corinne says, adding the former chief of staff Keith Schembri had blocked her number so that she would not be able to call him. "This isn't Keith blocking Daphne. This is the government blocking a journalist." Kurt Sansone

10:44 Corinne says her sister had been referred to as a witch, a hate blogger, and a propagandist. Kurt Sansone

10:44 Corinne is also criticising Glenn Bedingfield's blog as a response to her sister's blog. "This is a false equivalent because Daphne was an investigative journalist while Bedingfield was part of the executive branch of government." Kurt Sansone

10:41 Corinne says that Daphne's death would not be the last and that one of the roles of the board of inquiry is to make sure that something similar as what had happened to her sister would not happen in Malta again. "There's no reason why someone would harass a journalist if it isn't about what she is writing." Kurt Sansone

10:40 She adds that Joseph Muscat had not given a proper interview for a long time and only recently he had been giving information when he was acting on behalf of the Police Commissioner. Corinne adds that the Prime Minister was very sparse with information and that he denied journalists access to him. "He has refused to answer for his behaviour," she says. Kurt Sansone

10:38 "The start of this public inquiry was delayed by two years," Corinne says, adding that false trails over two years were being planted to lead journalists astray. Corinne says that Malta was crawling with journalists after Daphne was killed and that many journalists approached her asking about fuel smuggling. "Daphne was not investigating fuel smuggling. She told me very clearly that she was not," Corinne says. Kurt Sansone

10:34 Corinne says that at one point, Daphne had told her she was starting to suspect that Keith Schembri's business was money laundering and that she suspected that he had more than one offshore company and that such a thing would be unusual for someone who euphemistically referred to the reason behind his Panama company as 'tax efficiency'. Kurt Sansone

10:31 Corinne says that her sister did not set out to investigate organised crime and corruption. Her interest was Maltese politics. “She was covering politics in Malta and found that she was uncovering corruption. That shows that there are connections between people in power and international organised crime.” Kurt Sansone

10:29 Corinne Vella says that in early 2017, her sister Daphne had a meeting with the man who heads the firm Henley and Partners, the company behind the passports scheme. “This man planned with members of the executive to silence Daphne according to email correspondence. When she met him, he threatened to sue her via a firm in the UK.” Kurt Sansone

10:27 That Caruana Galizia disrupted the country with her reporting was not the journalist's problem, Corinne says. She tells the board members that the Egrant story eventually resulted in Pilatus Bank closing down. Kurt Sansone

10:26 THE CONTEXT: The 2017 election came a year before the government fulfilled its five-year mandate. The Prime Minister had called the election on 1 May 2017 at the height of the Egrant revelations. However, Daphne Caruana Galizia had also shown that the election slogan had been registered as a web domain months earlier. Kurt Sansone

10:24 Corinne says that the early election link to the murder should also be a scope of the inquiry's investigation. "It is reasonable to assume that the cumulative effect of her reporting disrupted the government's business plan." Kurt Sansone

10:22 "These narratives need to be seen now as a deliberate attempt to derail the investigations," Corinne says, adding that members of the executive are conceivably involved in Daphne's murder. Kurt Sansone

10:22 There were various theories about potential motives to kill Daphne, Corinne says, adding that the family had to contend with various false narratives on the murder. Kurt Sansone

10:21 Corinne Vella's testimony has started and she, like Andrew, has told the board members that she would welcome the possibility to testify at a later stage. Kurt Sansone

10:21 Andrew steps down after fielding questions from the inquiry board members. Caruana Galizia's sister, Corinne Vella, is next to testify. Kurt Sansone

10:16 Andrew adds that someone working as an army officer had been following his mother on his own initiative to protect her in recent years. He says he would reveal his name in camera if need be. Kurt Sansone

10:14 Chief justice emeritus Joseph Said Pullicino says that the inquiry has to base itself on facts and that the hypothesis will be taken into consideration. Kurt Sansone

10:13 Andrew Caruana Galizia replies: "Whenever I was in Valletta with her, people glared at her. She lost any last remaining support that she had and was blamed for the loss of the Nationalist Party in 2013. The last institutional support, one could say, was the Opposition party before 2017. But after the defeat, that ended. I told her that she could see this as a good thing. I told her that she did more than anyone else to seek justice for the crimes uncovered. I told her that she could focus on anything she enjoyed in life and to feel less responsible. It wasn't in her nature to do that." Kurt Sansone

10:11 Madame Justice Abigail Lofaro asks whether Daphne had been threatened after the Panama Papers story in 2016. Kurt Sansone

10:10 Andrew's testimony has concluded. Retired judge Michael Mallia asks Andrew whether he was in Malta when the police commissioner changed in 2013 from John Rizzo to Peter Paul Zammit. Andrew replies that he wasn't. Kurt Sansone

10:09 Andrew says his mother was incontestably a government target. Kurt Sansone

10:08 Andrew says that the libel actions (some of which were filed in foreign jurisdictions) set his mother up to an “interminable form of harassment” and showed weaknesses in Malta's libel law. Kurt Sansone

10:07 "Her reporting severely damaged the passports scheme, the American University of Malta, Pilatus Bank. One of these three has already been forced shut and the other two will follow suit soon. My mother perceived the libel action against her to have nothing to do with clearing names," Andrew Caruana Galizia says. Kurt Sansone

10:05 Andrew adds that if it were not for his mother's murder, those who are presently charged would never have been arraigned. He says that the layers of un-investigated crime in the country fostered the impunity that led to his mother being murdered. Kurt Sansone

10:04 Andrew recalls the moment when his mother was arrested before the 2013 election when she breached 'the day of silence' when she wrote political blog posts despite the ban. "She didn't want to be arrested and resisted arrest because she knew that if Labour was elected, the institutions would deliberately fail, and she would suffer terribly," Andrew says. Kurt Sansone

10:04 Andrew says that institutional failures in the country ultimately contributed to the atmosphere where it was considered “fair game” and “easy” to murder a journalist. Kurt Sansone

10:01 "Soon after my mother's assassination, I found out that someone had been following her of his own initiative to protect her when she had been writing about former inspector Daniel Zammit. This person was following her to see if there were other individuals following her or threatening her." Kurt Sansone

09:57 Yorgen Fenech asking for these bombers by name as the preferred persons to carry out the murder shows the cracks in Malta's law enforcement machinery, Andrew Caruana Galizia says. He is referring to Theuma’s court testimony in which he recalled how Fenech asked him whether he knew George iċ-Ċiniż (Degiorgio). Kurt Sansone

09:56 "A remote-controlled bomb has not been seen in the United States for 50 years but was somehow seen in Malta. This was clearly a well-designed bomb. The hitmen only requested €150,000 for my mother's murder, which shows how low risk they thought killing a high-profile journalist was. This amount is absurd," Andrew says. Kurt Sansone

09:55 Andrew Caruana Galizia refers to recent testimony by middleman Melvin Theuma where he claimed that the assassination of Daphne Caruana Galizia had been delayed due to a roadblock in the area, noting that this had prolonged Daphne's life for a number of days if not weeks. Andrew questioned how much longer her life would have been prolonged had the police even provided her with minimal protection. Kurt Sansone

09:52 "The government's role in my mother's death has often placed us at the forefront of an accusation that we were attempting some kind of revenge on the Labour Party," Andrew says. Kurt Sansone

09:51 "I believe the inquiry should also explore what risks journalists face today and how the threats facing my mother were handled under different police commissioners." Kurt Sansone

09:47 Andrew Caruana Galizia says that the family sought advice from the police to protect their own lives. He says a letter was penned by them and sent to the police. They requested basic information on the case in the letter. “We never received a response for this letter. Instead, my father received a phone call from Police Commissioner Lawrence Cutajar saying: 'You know you have a fixed point, right?'” Kurt Sansone

09:46 "Despite the limitations of police protection, the State still has an obligation to protect a journalist's life. The State has failed to do this," Andrew says. Kurt Sansone

09:45 Andrew Caruana Galizia says that he believes that police protection is extremely important because it sends the message that attacking a journalist is like attacking the State itself. He adds, however, that police protection should only be a short-term measure. Kurt Sansone

09:42 Andrew says that whoever killed his mother was attempting to send a message and set an example. "A message so strong: that integrity is a death wish," he says. Kurt Sansone

09:42 The testimony starts: "I welcome the opportunity to testify at a later stage if possible in view of developments in the case." Kurt Sansone

09:40 Andrew enters the courtroom. He gives his personal details to the inquiry board members. Kurt Sansone

09:40 Paul ends his testimony. Now it's Andrew Caruana Galizia's turn to testify. Kurt Sansone

09:39 Paul Caruana Galizia says that he never did but that his mother had a very good relationship with the previous police commissioner John Rizzo. Kurt Sansone

09:39 Inquiry president Michael Mallia asks a question: "Did you contact former police chief Peter Paul Zammit with regard to the police protection afforded to your mother?" Kurt Sansone

09:38 Paul Caruana Galizia says that Justice Minister Owen Bonnici had insisted on Judge Antonio Mizzi be part of the inquiry. "We now know that Melvin Theuma (the middleman) had asked Yorgen Fenech to speak to Antonio Mizzi," Paul says, adding that the government had identified Mizzi as their man for the inquiry. Kurt Sansone

09:37 Paul Caruana Galizia, son of murdered journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia, says that his family fought tooth and nail for an inquiry to be held. “We shouldn't have had to. As we were doing that, we were rubbished and derided. We have piles of correspondence between ourselves and the Attorney General. The tone is very condescending and the tone suggests that he believed we were lying," Paul says, adding that the Attorney General should have jumped at the possibility of prosecuting in a case involving the murder of a journalist. Kurt Sansone

09:33 George Degiorgio, along with brother Alfred Degiorgio and Vincent Muscat are charged with executing the murder of the journalist on 16 October 2017. Kurt Sansone

09:32 Paul Caruana Galizia turns to the three men accused of planting and detonating the bomb that killed his mother. "The Degiorgios claim unemployment but they owned sports cars, went to holidays in Monaco. They were prolific bombers. When Yorgen Fenech called Melvin Theuma, the question was: do you know George ċ-Ċiniż? He didn't ask whether he knew anyone who could help assassinate my mother. Police knew about these people," Paul says. Kurt Sansone

09:28 Paul says that the best way to protect a journalist is to pick up on her work and investigate the issues that the journalist is writing about. Kurt Sansone

09:28 "I know the court was initially quite concerned with police protection for my mother. While a fixed-point police guard hampers any journalist's ability to work, there are other ways to provide police protection," Paul Caruana Galizia says, adding that before Labour was elected in government in 2013, this was never an issue. Kurt Sansone

09:26 "In respect of cover-up activity, things are changing so quickly. There is so much evidence that is possibly being destroyed," Paul says, adding that now the task of the courts and police should be to collect as much data and documentation as possible. Kurt Sansone

09:24 "This was something that another OPM official Josef Caruana also did. They fuelled and wrote conspiracy theories involving us, her children, in the murder," Paul says. Kurt Sansone

09:23 Paul sets his sights on Labour MP Glenn Bedingfield, claiming that his blog contained over 400 posts with his mother's name in the title. Kurt Sansone

09:23 Paul Caruana Galizia says that Principal Permanent Secretary Mario Cutajar had at first claimed that he couldn't locate data showing middleman Melvin Theuma was given a phoney job by Castille. "He then added another lie when documents were found. He said that there was a public call for the job Theuma got," Paul says. Kurt Sansone

09:22 QUICK REMINDER: We are attending the third session of the public inquiry into Daphne Caruana Galizia’s murder. Her son Paul Caruana Galizia is testifying. The board is tasked, among others, to determine whether the State did enough to prevent the murder and protect the journalist. Kurt Sansone

09:20 Caruana Galizia's parents have entered the courtroom with lawyer Therese Comodini Cachia. Kurt Sansone

09:20 "Schembri is saying that he lost his phone. There's no need for Schembri's physical phone for his data. My mother's phone was destroyed in the car with her. Forensic experts managed to clone her phone, her sim, her data. In my view, the same should happen to a man suspected of my mother's murder," Paul says. Kurt Sansone

09:19 Paul also refers to a moment when Schembri made reference to his mother's murder being somehow connected to fuel smuggling. "This piece of information was designed so that attention is taken away from what she was really investigating... Schembri did this while knowing every single detail of the investigation, yet he was briefing the press," he says, adding that his mother never investigated fuel smuggling. Kurt Sansone

09:19 Paul says that a number of people were aware of Fenech's impending arrest. He mentions Johann Cremona (a business associate of Fenech), Keith Schembri, Kenneth Camilleri (a former police officer who formed part of the PM’s security detail) and Times of Malta former journalist Ivan Camilleri. Kurt Sansone

09:18 Paul Caruana Galizia tells the inquiry that the Prime Minister knew Fenech was a suspect in May 2018. “My family have long suspected that Fenech was involved in the murder. At this point, it's significant to remember that Schembri and Fenech were very good friends, the Prime Minister knew Schembri was set to receive millions from kickbacks, and that 17 Black belonged to Fenech. Knowing all these things, it's my view that the Prime Minister must be made to answer questions.” Kurt Sansone

09:13 "One week after my mother was assassinated, Fenech wasn't a suspect and wasn't on anyone's radar but Schembri somehow knew to inform him of certain developments. It's reasonable therefore to conclude that Schembri was involved," Paul Caruana Galizia says. Kurt Sansone

09:13 The note [Dr Adrian Vella passed onto Fenech] instructs Fenech to say that he knew he was being recorded by Theuma, as a result of blackmail using other means, and that Theuma insisted with Fenech on making recordings in the presence of his children. In other words, the note passed to Yorgen Fenech instructs Fenech to say the recordings were staged. Kurt Sansone

09:11 "The note mentioning Schembri involved covering up the assassination: the means of cover-up might have implicated a cabinet minister, Chris Cardona, which suggests that involving a minister is credible. This is very serious." Kurt Sansone

09:09 Paul mentions Yorgen Fenech who implicated former chief of staff Keith Schembri and he refers to notes that allegedly were passed between the two via their doctor Adrian Vella. Kurt Sansone

09:09 Paul Caruana Galizia is testifying: "Recent events show that the Office of the Prime Minister is involved in a cover-up of my mother's assassination. Anyone involved with the cover-up may be involved with the conspiracy to assassinate her." Kurt Sansone

09:08 Daphne’s widower, Peter Caruana Galizia, and lawyers Andrew Borg Cardona and Jason Azzopardi are present. The lawyers are appearing for the family members. Kurt Sansone

09:08 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. Kurt Sansone

09:07 Son of journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia, Paul Caruana Galizia will be the first to testify. Kurt Sansone

09:07 We are back in court where the Daphne Caruana Galizia murder inquiry will be continuing in its third sitting. Kurt Sansone

09:06 Good morning. Kurt Sansone

Keith Schembri tried associating Daphne Caruana Galizia’s murder with fuel smuggling by feeding the media this information despite being privy to investigations, Paul Caruana Galizia said.

The son of the murdered journalist was testifying in front of the public inquiry, which held its third session today.

“The [fuel smuggling] information was designed so that attention is taken away from what she was really investigating... Schembri did this while knowing every single detail of the investigation, yet he was briefing the press,” Paul Caruana Galizia said, adding that his mother never investigated fuel smuggling.

He added that Schembri saying that he lost his phone was no excuse. “There's no need for Schembri's physical phone for his data to be recovered. My mother's phone was destroyed in the car with her. Forensic experts managed to clone her phone, her sim, her data. In my view, the same should happen to a man suspected of my mother's murder.”

Paul Caruana Galizia said Joseph Muscat must be made to answer questions on the Daphne Caruana Galizia murder given what he knew about Yorgen Fenech and Keith Schembri.

He said that a week after his mother was assassinated, Fenech was not a suspect but the Prime Minister’s former chief of staff knew that he should inform him of certain developments.

“It's reasonable therefore to conclude that Schembri was involved,” Paul told the inquiry.

He noted that from court testimony it is known that the Prime Minister became aware that Fenech was a suspect in the murder in May 2018.

“My family have long suspected that Fenech was involved in the murder. At this point, it's significant to remember that Schembri and Fenech were very good friends, the Prime Minister knew Schembri was set to receive millions from kickbacks, and that 17 Black belonged to Fenech. Knowing all these things, it's my view that the Prime Minister must be made to answer questions,” Paul Caruana Galizia said.

17 Black was a Dubai company owned by Fenech that had been listed as a target client for the Panama companies set up by Konrad Mizzi and Keith Schembri. The Panama companies had to receive millions from their target clients, according to documentation uncovered by the Panama Papers leak.

Fenech is a shareholder and was a director in Electrogas, the consortium that won the multi-million-euro gas power station contract.

Paul Caruana Galizia went on to say that a number of people were aware of Fenech's impending arrest last month.

He mentioned Johann Cremona (a business associate of Fenech), Keith Schembri, Kenneth Camilleri (a former police officer who formed part of the PM’s security detail) and Times of Malta former journalist Ivan Camilleri.

The inquiry also heard another of Daphne’s sons, Andrew, and her sister Corinne Vella.

The public inquiry into the murder of Daphne Caruana Galizia is made up of three judges. Retired judge Michael Mallia is pesident of the inquiry board while chief justice emeritus Joseph Said Pullicino and Madame Justice Abigail Lofaro are members.

The inquiry's terms of reference stipulate that it must be concluded within nine months.

It is probing, among other things, whether the State did enough to prevent the murder and protect the journalist.

What happened in the previous sessions

In the last session held earlier this month, relatives of the murdered journalist testified on the harassment she and they were subjected to.

Caruana Galizia's parents, Rose and Michael Vella, two of her sisters, Helene Asciak and Amanda Mallia, and her nieces Megan Mallia and Amy Mallia took the stand. The witnesses recounted how, after the 2013 election and following the Panama Papers revelations in 2016, the threats against Caruana Galizia had intensified.

In the last session, the inquiry board upheld a request, made by the Caruana Galizia family, to preserve the mobile network location data concerning Economy Minister Chris Cardona's whereabouts at the time Daphne Caruana Galizia had alleged he was at a German brothel while on government duty in 2017.

In the first sitting, the murdered journalist’s other son, Matthew Caruana Galizia, and her widower, Peter Caruana Galizia, took the witness stand.

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.

David Hudson is an IGM press awards (Investigative stories) winner of 2019