Police have yet to explain the motive behind the murder of Daphne Caruana Galizia in a car bomb three years ago, even though four people have been charged in the case.
Angelo Gafà, the police commissioner appointed to the role five months ago, told a public inquiry that officers are focussed on exposing the reason why the journalist was killed.
He said: "Yesterday I called the task force on the crime. The murder itself, the financial aspect. Investigations still ongoing and the motive is still not quite clear. We want to get to the motive."
Businessman Yorgen Fenech stands accused of conspiracy to murder the anti-corruption journalist while three other men, brothers Alfred and George Degiorgio and Vince Muscat, are charged with carrying out the October 2017 car bomb.
In his one hour testimony, Gafà also spoke about a botched police request to Dubai authorities for more information about Fenech's company 17 Black, which was set to funnel money into secret companies held by senior political figures Konrad Mizzi and Keith Schembri.
Gafà defended the police's action.
"What I can say is that I met magistrate Charmaine Galea to ensure that the information was sent correctly, through proper channels, letters rogatory," he explains.
"To date, I can say that any error was not intentional," Gafà says.
Gafà said the financial crimes was the "top priority" for the force, and revealed he had removed Ian Abdilla as the head of the Economic Crimes Unit because "the department was under siege and justice must be seen to be done".
The man who replaced Lawrence Cutajar as commissioner this year also said he had addressed corruption in the force.
Cutajar stepped down after enduring criticism that he failed to investigate several allegations involving the government.
As it happened
That's all for today
10.49am Further questions are to be put behind closed doors. The press is asked to leave. But before we do, we are told that the next hearing is Tuesday at 1pm. Sandro Craus, the head of customer care at the office of the prime minister, who was involved in a government job offer to self-confessed murder middleman Melvin Theuma. The President of the Institute of Maltese Journalists, Sylvana Debono, will also testify.
That's it for today. We'll have a brief summary above shortly.
Dubai blunder 'not intentional'
10.40am Another of the judges, Abigail Lofaro, asks about police sending the wrong information to Dubai, as part of an inquiry into 17 Black, the secret company owned by murder suspect Yorgen Fenech.
"What I can say is that I met magistrate Charmaine Galea to ensure that the information was sent correctly, through proper channels, letters rogatory," he explains.
"To date I can say that any error was not intentional," Gafà says.
"It was not the magistrate who made the error," Lofaro remarks.
Yorgen Fenech. Photo: Mark Zammit CordinaMagisterial inquiries v police investigations
10.36am Justice Said Pullicino asks whether police investigations stop pending magisterial inquiries. Other witnesses had said so.
But Gafà explains that forensic accountants appointed by inquiring magistrates were all foreign. (Are there none in Malta? judges remark) We obviously have to wait for their reports, Gafà explains.
But others before you told us that they had to wait while inquiries were ongoing, the judges insist.
"I humbly beg to differ," Gafà says.
'We want to get to the motive' of Daphne's murder
10.31am As well as boosting the financial crime unit, Gafà said that the homicide squad has also been boosted by new superintendents. "Even regarding the murder at hand, the top officer is totally focused on this case, today," he says.
"There are four people in court over this crime. I don’t want him to focus on anything else.
"Yesterday I called the task force on the crime. The murder itself, the financial aspect. Investigations still ongoing and the motive is still not quite clear. We want to get to the motive."
Why ECU head was changed
10.25am Gafà explains that the head of the Economic Crimes Unit was changed because "the department was under siege and justice must be seen to be done".
"I sensed that a new way of doing things in that department was needed. So yes, top priority at the moment is financial crimes," he says.
"I introduced the concept of ...skills. We have financial crimes analysts, crime analysts. Officers are university graduates specializing in that area."
[For background, former ECU chief Ian Abdilla was removed from his post in June, following years of accusations of inaction over claims of wrongdoing by government officials]
'No-one ever interfered with me'
10.20am Gafà addresses allegations of corruption in the force, and says that no-one has ever attempted to interfere with his work "either before or now". But he says he has questioned decisions made in the past.
"I sometimes questioned why we arraigned a mastermind but not an accomplice, [he does not say in which case] but we had internal advice, we had Attorney General advice," Gafà explains.
Panama papers
10.14am Testimony turns to the Panama papers, released in 2016 that confirmed information first published by Daphne Caruana Galizia, that two senior political figures - former minister Konrad Mizzi and then OPM chief of staff Keith Schembri had secret offshore companies.
Where was Gafà at the time?
"I was at Malta Security Services at the time. I became CEO at police in December 2016 and it was administrative role," he explains.
"I acknowledge that there was a loss in trust in the corps. In spite of all positive work done by corps, trust dropped. Our oath of office needs to find reflection in achievements and to regain people’s trust."
Konrad Mizzi
Keith SchembriBad apples
10.10am Judge Joseph Said Pullicino observed that within six months Gafà has laid down a programme. But what happened before under the various commissioners? "There were rotten apples somewhere and they gave a bad name to the rest,"Said Pullicino says. "Why wasn’t today’s project in force back then?"
"We did not acquire respect in a day," Gafà replies. He says he leads by example and emphasises accountability.
Angelo Gafà, without a mask. Photo: Matthew Mirabelli95 financial crime officers
10.06am Referencing the focus on financial crime in Malta, Gafà says there are 95 officers in the financial crimes unit.
Resources
10.03am Do you have enough resources to combat top level crimes? "It's never enough," he replies.
He says the corps "may have gone wrong" by failing to evolve in the past. Now, the financial crimes unit has been beefed up. "It’s a most complex area, and expertise is needed to combat it."
Tackling corruption
9.58am Gafà talks about introducing an anti corruption policy and trying to tackle what he calls as the "blue wall of silence" - the difficulty of an officer to report a colleague. "We are encouraging officers to report wrongdoing," he adds.
On gifts, tokens of gratitude, like bottles of whiskey are acceptable but police have guidelines and must declare any gift received.
They've also held sessions on what part time jobs may be undertaken by police to avoid conflicts of interest.
Policing is 'like a cake'
9.54am Five months into the job, Gafà is asked what his aims are and the improvements he has made. His main aim is to "reinforce people's faith in the force" and he says that police have cut down on reported crimes.
He talks about building trust so people feel they can report offences, such as domestic violence, and focuses on community policing.
He says: "It's not enough to have police out in the streets. There must be a strategy, needs logistics, cooperation with people. It’s like a cake, with varied ingredients. It’s not applied the same all over."
A brief CV
9.49am Gafà tells the inquiry he has been with the force for 17 years, joining in 2020 after studying public policy at university. He was previously in the armed forces as second lieutenant but he says he wanted to be more directly at the service of the people.
He applied for the post of CEO with the police, which he held until June this year when he successfully applied for the post of commissioner.
Police commissioner takes the oath
9.47am Police commissioner Angelo Gafà takes the oath.
Hall 20 fills up
9.42am We are at hall 20, the usual location for the public inquiry on the second floor of the law courts. It’s the one used for superior appeals, before three judges, and also by the Constitutional court. Parte civile lawyers Therese Comodini Cachia and Jason Azzopardi are here, as are Daphne Caruana Galizia’s sisters. We're about to begin.
Angelo Gafà arrives
9.39am The commissioner is here but we haven't started yet.