Live Blog: Day 6 Of Yorgen Fenech’s Trial Into The Assassination of Journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia

Good morning and welcome to our live coverage of the jury trial of Yorgen Fenech over the assassination of investigative journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia.

We’re at the law courts in Valletta, where proceedings are due to resume shortly before Madam Justice Edwina Grima as the trial enters its sixth day.

Refresh for live updates from court

09:20- Court is in session. Chief Investigator and first witness Keith Arnaud takes the takes the stand.

09:15- Argument ensues between prosecution lawyer and the defence team. Judge Grima warns, “Don’t start arguing amongst yourselves already!”

09:17- Jury has been valled in.

09:06 – Judge Edwina Grima has just entered the hall and we are waiting for the members of the Jury to be called in.

Inside the courtroom

09:00 – We’re inside Hall 22, where members of the prosecution, defence team and parte civile lawyers, witness and Chief Investigator Keith Arnaud, as well as the accused Yorgen Fenech, have started gathering. Proceedings are expected to get underway shortly, with Madam Justice Edwina Grima due to take the bench before the jury is called into the courtroom.

Assistant Police Commissioner Keith Arnaud is expected to continue giving evidence for the prosecution after three days of testimony outlining the progress of the murder investigation. Last week, jurors heard how the inquiry gathered pace following the arrest of self-confessed middleman Melvin Theuma in November 2019. The court was told that covert recordings made by Theuma, conversations retrieved from the encrypted messaging platform Signal and forensic data extracted from Fenech’s mobile phone became key pieces of evidence in the case.

Arnaud also testified about Edwin Brincat, known as il-Ġojja, telling jurors that Brincat allegedly advised Theuma to identify individuals by name while making the secret recordings so investigators could later establish who was speaking. The court further heard that Brincat discouraged Theuma from approaching the police and later exercised his right to remain silent after his arrest.

Fenech, the former chief executive of the Tumas Group and a director of the Electrogas consortium, is accused of commissioning the 2017 car bomb murder of Caruana Galizia. He was arrested in November 2019 while attempting to leave Malta aboard his yacht and has consistently denied the charges.

The prosecution is being led by lawyers Godwin Cini, Anthony Vella and Danika Vella from the Office of the Attorney General, assisted by Assistant Police Commissioner Keith Arnaud and Inspector Kurt Zahra. Fenech is represented by lawyers Charles Mercieca, Gianluca Caruana Curran and Giannella de Marco, while the Caruana Galizia family is participating in the proceedings as parte civile, represented by lawyers Therese Comodini Cachia and Jason Azzopardi.

We’ll bring you the latest testimony and key developments from inside the courtroom as they happen. Refresh this page for live updates throughout the day.

READ NEXT: 52-Year-Old At risk of Dying After Tuk Tuk Overturns In Gozo

Clara Sciberras

Clara is a massive foodie who recently graduated from the University of Malta as a lawyer. Her biggest passions in life are the performing arts, which she pursues professionally when she’s not too busy writing.