A lawyer for one of the men accused of supplying the bomb that killed Daphne Caruana Galizia has blamed “a group of people with vested interests” for forcing the Attorney General to continue opposing bail for his client, who has spent three and a half years in preventive custody. 

While Madam Justice Edwina Grima continued to hear pre-trial pleas in the case against Jamie Vella, Geroge Degiorgo and the Maksar brothers Adrian and Robert Agius, Vella made a fresh case for bail. This is his tenth request to date. 

The men are facing criminal charges for their alleged involvement in the assassination of the journalist, as well as in the murder of lawyer Carmel Chircop, who was shot dead in the doorway of his Birkirkara garage in 2015. 

Appearing for Vella on Friday, lawyer Ishmael Psaila said in similar cases, such as that of Aleksandar Stojanovic, murder suspects had been given bail after being in preventive custody for long periods. 

The only thing that was different for Vella, Psaila argued passionately, is “who the parte civile is” and said that there are a “group of people with vested interests” who force the AG’s hand to continue to object to bail. 

The prosecution, he said, continues to insist that bail cannot be granted due to the gravity of the charges and public disorder, however forgets that Vella is still presumed innocent. 

The police commissioner himself had said that investigations into Caruana Galizia’s murder had been concluded, the lawyer went on to say, adding that when he was first questioned, Vella had even been granted police bail, which had been renewed frequently and even expanded to allow him to travel.

“Had Jamie Vella intended to tamper with evidence or abscond, he had all the time in the world to do so. But on the doorstep of a truly unprecedented trial, the AG continues to object to bail and tell us that this is not the right time,” Psaila said.

“This time, they tell us it on the grounds of public disorder. But in this case, whatever we say there is a group of people out there who have a vested interest in this outcome and this is why his hands are tied and he must continue to object to bail. It is a total injustice.” 

AG Godwin Cini rebutted that the case at hand shows evidence of several elements of organised crime and for which European jurisprudence justified continued detention. 

With regards to the issue of public order, he said that this was not something the defence had simply cooked up, but which the court itself had commented on. 

Reading from a constitutional reference, Cini said that the Caruana Galizia murder had rocked not only Malta but countries overseas as well. 

Given this, he said that the time remains inopportune for the granting of bail. 

“We must see the course of justice through, no matter where it may lead us,” he said. 

Judge Grima is expected to issue a decree on the matter from the chambers. 

Copy of Theuma testimony

On Friday the judge meanwhile granted a request by the defendants to have a copy of testimony given by Melvin Theuma and Vince Muscat so that they may be exhibited in separate civil proceedings.

Lawyer Alfred Abela said that police inspector Keith Arnaud had testified that Muscat had given evidence before an inquiry that he claimed was not in their case file.

He further claimed this was being withheld from his clients by the inquiring magistrate of the recently reopened inquiry. 

Grima upheld the request and ordered the registrar to file a request asking permission from the inquiring magistrate to exhibit copies of the Daphne Caruana Galizia inquiry.

She also ordered the transcripts of testimonies given by Muscat and Theuma in the case against Alfred and George Degiorgio to be exhibited.