Lawyers assisting murder suspect Adrian Agius (Ta' Maksar) are challenging the notion of public disorder as a ground for denying bail, requesting a constitutional reference which, if upheld, would suspend criminal proceedings.
Arguments about this latest application brought to a close another session in the ongoing compilation of evidence against Adrian Agius, his brother Robert, Jamie Vella and George Degiorgio who were present in court on Thursday.
The two Ta’ Maksar brothers were arrested in February in a joint operation that also netted associate Jamie Vella, as well as George Degiorgio, who was already under preventive custody as one of the alleged hitmen in the assassination of Daphne Caruana Galizia.
All four were subsequently charged and linked to the journalist’s 2017 murder and that of Birkirkara lawyer Carmel Chircop back in 2015.
Adrian Agius is pleading not guilty to ordering the murder of the lawyer who was gunned down in a garage complex six years ago.
Seven months since those arraignments, all four accused remain under preventive custody.
Meanwhile, with the magisterial inquiry into the Chircop murder wrapped up and civilian witnesses having testified, Adrian Agius’s lawyers have unsuccessfully filed two successive requests for bail, the latest one last month.
In its reasons for denying bail, the court, presided over by magistrate Caroline Farrugia Frendo, gave weight to the gravity of the alleged crime and the serious charges which could spark fear in society.
Making reference to European case law, the court cited the notion of public disorder as a ground for justifying the withholding of bail.
Notion of public disorder not addressed by any court
However, Agius’s lawyers are insisting that the notion of public disorder may only be resorted to by the courts to deny bail if expressly provided for under local law, which was not the case within the Maltese scenario.
The Strasbourg courts made this clear, argued lawyer Alfred Abela, when making submissions in the final stages of Thursday's hearing, explaining what had prompted the defence to request a reference to the constitutional courts.
The defence’s arguments about the notion of public disorder had, so far, not been addressed by any court, argued Abela, by way of explaining the motive for the application filed on Wednesday.
“Why didn’t you choose an ad hoc case?” asked Magistrate Farrugia Frendo, pointing out that, unlike the constitutional reference, filing a separate constitutional case would not suspend the ongoing compilation of evidence.
But the lawyer countered that filing a separate case would not be the correct procedure since the bail decrees had been issued by this court and Adrian Agius’s lawyers were turning to the constitutional courts to address this yet unaddressed notion.
Prosecution lawyer George Camilleri voiced disagreement over the defence’s move, describing it as “contradictory and counter-productive” since it would stultify the murder proceedings over the “urgent issue of bail”.
The court is to hear further submissions on this request at the next sitting, later this month.
Drugs discovered during arrests
During Thursday’s session, scientific expert Godwin Sammut confirmed that some 300 grams of “light brown” substance, suspected heroin, allegedly discovered in Adrian Agius’s possession during the arrests, turned out to be a mixture of cutting agents.
An initial screening test was followed by more sensitive testing which confirmed the presence of paracetamol and caffeine, said Sammut, explaining that those substances were normally used as adulterants to heroin.
Some other whitish powder also handed over to the expert for analysis, was confirmed as being 4.08 grams of cocaine of 22% purity.
Earlier in the sitting, lawyer Louis Degabriele took the witness stand as legal advisor to Bank of Valletta, shedding light upon an application recently filed by the bank in relation to property held in trust.
Details of his testimony were banned from publication under court order.
The case continues.
Inspectors Wayne Camilleri and Shaun Pawney prosecuted assisted by AG lawyer George Camilleri.Lawyers Alfred Abela and Rene’ Darmanin are counsel to Agius and Vella.Lawyer William Cuschieri is counsel to Degiorgio.
Lawyers Jason Azzopardi and Therese Comodini Cachia appear parte civile for the Caruana Galizia family, while lawyer Vincent Galea appears parte civile for the Chircop family.