Malta’s police commissioner, head of security services and a leading prosecutor are to be asked to testify in a constitutional case filed by one of men accused of murdering journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia.
George Degiorgio is challenging the validity of phone tapping laws, saying prosecutors had “bragged” about phone intercepts which they had used in the Caruana Galizia murder investigation but never presented them during the compilation of evidence against him.
Mr Degiorgio was back in court on Tuesday morning, amid the usual tight security, as his latest constitutional case got underway before the First Hall, Civil Court, presided over by Mr Justice Toni Abela.
Also present at today’s first hearing was lawyer Peter Caruana Galizia, representing his three sons, after the court upheld a request by the family of the assassinated journalist to intervene in the suit.
Back in August, Mr Degiorgio and his brother Alfred had called on the authorities to produce evidence of telephone intercepts that the prosecution had “bragged about” throughout the compilation of evidence.
Those intercepts had allegedly been crucial to investigators in zooming in upon the suspect murderers and linking them to the explosion that killed Ms Caruana Galizia on October 16, 2017.
Mr Degiorgio had filed a judicial protest in August calling on the police commissioner and the attorney general to exhibit recordings and transcripts of those phone intercepts. When that did not happen, he filed a constitutional case Mr Degiorgio is challenging the validity of the phone tapping law itself.
When mapping out the way forward, defence lawyer William Cuschieri informed the court that he would be summoning the head of the Malta Security Services, the police commissioner and leading Inspector Keith Arnaud to testify in the proceedings.
The case continues later this month.
Lawyers Victoria Buttigieg and Maurizio Cordina from the AG’s Office assisted the respondents. Lawyers Therese Comodini Cachia and Karol Aquilina assisted the Caruana Galizia family.