A magistrate on Wednesday ordered the Police Commissioner to hand over a copy of a statement given to the police by Times of Malta journalist Ivan Martin in connection with the alleged attempted bribery involving lawyers Gianluca Caruana Curran and Charles Mercieca. 

Magistrate Natasha Galea Sciberras ruled that there was nothing at law that precluded the prosecution from disclosing the said statement especially when there was no threat to the journalist’s life or his fundamental rights, as laid down in the law. Neither was there any threat to national security. 

She said the disclosure laws, as protected also by European directives, was precisely to ensure that there was equality of arms and that the defence is given all the evidence, in favour or against their clients, for a fair hearing to prevail in the courtroom. 

The magistrate was ruling on a request filed by defence counsels for the two lawyers who demanded a copy of Martin’s statement to the police. The Attorney General opposed the request, arguing that the statement was not a sworn statement and, therefore, could not qualify as admissible evidence in court. 

However, Magistrate Galea Sciberras disagreed, saying that the statement was the fulcrum of the prosecution’s case against the defendants and that it was on the basis of this declaration that the police had chosen to charge the two lawyers in court over the alleged attempted bribery. 

In her eight-page decree, quoting local and European case law on the right to information during the criminal justice process, also known in technical jargon as “disclosure”, the magistrate noted that although the law referred to “material evidence”, this was not only evidence that the prosecution was planning to present in court as evidence. 

The law, she said, was there to ensure a level playing field between the prosecution and the defence and to safeguard the proper procedure during criminal proceedings. The statement given by Martin to the police, she ruled, was “intrinsically linked” to the criminal case so she ordered the police to share the declaration with the defence.  

The decree was handed down on Wednesday as the case against the two lawyers continued. The pair, who are representing murder suspect Yorgen Fenech, are denying the charges. 

Martin's testimony

In a previous court sitting, Martin recounted how he had first established contact with Mercieca in May 2020 to get his reaction to a story about him leaving the Attorney General’s office to join Fenech’s defence team.  

Martin said he met Mercieca at his Valletta office on October 30 during which meeting he was told the lawyers wanted to undermine the credibility of the state witness in the Daphne Caruana Galizia murder case.

During this meeting, Martin said Mercieca provided him with some leads and other bits of information, some of which he was interested in pursuing.  

Martin said he set about verifying the information given by Mercieca. The journalist said he managed to confirm some details but was still shaky on others so he sent Mercieca an early draft of the story, informing him he had some questions as he was still unclear about some facts.  

Two days later, he received a WhatsApp message from Mercieca, asking if he was free to meet up. The meeting took place and Caruana Curran was present for this second meeting. The journalist recalled how at the end of the meeting, whilst still chatting with Mercieca, he saw Caruana Curran reaching for what he initially thought were some papers or small post-it notes.  

The journalist said when he realised that Caruana Curran had handed him between two to four €500 notes, he instantly handed them back to the lawyer and informed his superiors about the matter.  

During Wednesday’s sitting, the court heard a number of IT experts and representatives of various internet service providers testify over IP addresses linked to three particular emails between Martin and Times of Malta editor-in-chief Herman Grech, another one sent by Caruana Curran to news editor Diana Cacciottolo and the third containing a press release to various news outlets sent by Mercieca on November 4. 

The case continues on February 24 when Martin is expected to be cross-examined by defence lawyers Giannella de Marco and Stephen Tonna Lowell.

Superintendent James Grech and Inspector Anthony Scerri are prosecuting.