Two of the three men accused of the car bomb murder of Daphne Caruana Galizia have protested in court over a draft Council of Europe report, saying it ignored their presumption of innocence.

Bothers Alfred and George Degiorgio in a judicial protest called upon the Attorney General to prevent “interference by third parties”.

They said that the draft report had stated as a fact that they were responsible for planting the bomb inside the journalist’s car in October 2017, thereby ignoring their presumption of innocence.

Moreover, according to media reports, the council’s report on the journalist’s murder had stated that “those who placed the bomb in Daphne Caruana Galizia’s car have not yet been indicted and if this does not happen very soon, they will have to be released…”

Such a statement amounted to a breach of their presumption of innocence besides being tantamount to  “serious interference in judicial institutions which should be independent and impartial”.

The brothers urged the AG to “immediately take the necessary measures to stop the interference by third parties who should be extraneous to the judicial process,” or face further legal action.

Lawyer William Cuschieri signed the judicial protest.

It was subsequently pointed out to the Times that the Council of Europe report made reference to the “suspects” when addressing the fact that “the AG has still not issued an indictment.”

“If the suspects are not indicted by August 2019, they must be released on bail,” the report says.