Keith Schembri and Chris Cardona are to be summoned by lawyer Christian Grima as witnesses in a libel suit filed against him by Joseph Muscat.

Other witnesses on Grima’s list are self-confessed murder middleman Melvin Theuma and former security guard at the Office of the Prime Minister Kenneth Camilleri.

The defamation case was triggered by a Facebook post in which Grima reacted to comments by Muscat’s wife Michelle about the murder of Daphne Caruana Galizia.

The former Prime Minister’s wife had commented in a video clip that she was more sorry about “what happened to her [Daphne]” than the journalist’s own family.

Grima retorted to that comment stating: “Your husband blew her up, Michelle. That’s what happened to her.”

Muscat promptly sued Grima for defamation, claiming that the lawyer’s comment “left no room for interpretation”.

Grima’s comment “stated clearly that I was the perpetrator or somehow involved in the murder,” Muscat subsequently testified in the proceedings.

Grima’s lawyer raised the plea about the veracity of the allegations and proceeded to summon various witnesses to support that plea.

When the case resumed on Monday, George and Alfred Degiorgio, as convicted hitmen currently serving a 40-year jail term, were expected to testify.

The brothers had both refused to do so when summoned earlier in the proceedings and the court had remanded them in custody until they decided to testify.

That meant they were to turn up for every sitting until they testified.

But neither of them was escorted to Monday’s sitting.

Magistrate Victor George Axiaq issued one final warning to prison authorities. He said the Degiorgios were to be escorted to each hearing and “should this [failure] happen again, the court could take steps against the prisons director,” the magistrate warned. 

Grima’s lawyer had also issued a summons for Kenneth Camilleri but court records showed that that notification proved negative.

Muscat’s lawyer, Pawlu Lia, questioned the relevance of Camilleri’s testimony.

Grima’s lawyer, Carl Grech, said that Camilleri had testified in separate proceedings about how he had been sent to “calm down” Melvin Theuma after the murder.

“Who sent him? What instructions was he given?” asked Grech.

Muscat’s lawyer also questioned the relevance of Theuma’s testimony.

“Whatever he knows about the murder is not relevant unless it impinges upon this case,” argued Lia.

“We know that Theuma took a photo at Castille, embracing Keith Schembri. He was given a phantom job for sourcing the hitmen for the murder,” countered Grech. “If instructions came from Castille, then a person or persons at Castille were involved. I need him to tell us who that person/s was/were.”

The defendant was pleading veracity of his allegations, he pointed out.

Muscat’s lawyer pointed out that whoever insisted on saying that his allegation was true but then failed to prove it, faced “harsh sanctions”.

Muscat’s former security guard, Camilleri, had also testified at the Caruana Galizia public inquiry behind closed doors.

Grima requested the court to order a transcript of that testimony to be produced in evidence in the libel case.

The hearing proceeded momentarily behind closed doors for Grima’s lawyer to explain why that testimony was relevant.

When the hearing resumed in open court, Magistrate Axiaq upheld Grima’s request, declaring that a decree would be delivered in chambers to map out how a copy of that testimony was to be presented in the libel.

The case continues in October when Keith Schembri, Chris Cardona, Theuma and Camilleri are to be summoned to testify.