Keith Schembri has denied that he is a traitor to Labour supporters and insists that he does not need to apologise for any of his actions.

Several senior members of the PL, including, reportedly, Prime Minister Joseph Muscat, have said they felt betrayed by the former chief of staff.

He resigned last month over the fall out from the Daphne Caruana Galizia murder investigation and gave his first public account in court on Wednesday about claims he helped leak classified information to the murder suspect.

Asked afterwards if he was a traitor to the party, he pointed to Labour's victory at the polls.

"A traitor? Why should I be a traitor if I gave the party 10 electoral successes in a row," he said.

Asked whether he felt he needed to apologise to those Labourites who feel hurt, he said: "If I did anything to hurt them I apologise but I don't feel I need to apologise for anything."

Earlier in court, Mr Schembri denied leaking information about the investigation to his friend, Tumas magnate Mr Fenech, who is accused of conspiring to murder the journalist in 2017.  

He also revealed that he had a 24-minute phone call with the murder suspect, who told him he was going to try to leave the island. Mr Schembri admitted that this conversation was never shared with police.

"With hindsight I know it appears bad," he said. "I did what I had to do. I had told no one of my friendship with Yorgen."

Asked about this call outside court, he said he had "nothing to add" to his court testimony.