Keith Arnaud, the chief police investigator looking into the murder of journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia is testifying before the public inquiry on Wednesday. 

Arnaud’s involvement in the murder case is currently the subject of ongoing court action initiated by Yorgen Fenech, the man charged with having commissioned the journalist’s murder. 

Wednesday’s sitting of the inquiry also heard testimony from Paul Azzopardi who heads the Department of Information.  The DOI is responsible for coordinating press access to official State events. It also issues all official government press releases.

Here's what we learned today:

• Arnaud says the decision to bring in foreign experts to help with the Daphne Caruana Galizia murder came from his superiors;
• A database set up to help investigators deal with car bombs was still "bare" by the the time of the murder;
• Those present at briefings about the murder with then prime minister Joseph Muscat were the Armed Forces of Malta brigadier, head of communications Kurt Farrugia, the head of the Malta Security Service and former police assistant commissioner Silvio Valletta;
• Only the "disciplined forces" knew of the exact day in December that police had decided to arrest the three suspected killers;
• There was a lack of resources in the homicide unit that started to be addressed after the Romeo Bone car bomb;
• The police did not give a lot of importance to an initial theory that the murder was connected to fuel smuggling once the middleman Melvin Theuma was identified;
• Daphne Caruana Galizia had been denied information about MPs' tax returns because she did not have a DOI access card, the inquiry heard

 

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LIVE BLOG

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'When did you realise this was more than a murder investigation?'

3.52pm Comodini Cachia asks: "At what point in time did the police realise that this investigation was not only a murder investigation but also an investigation into other crimes? Did the progress, or lack thereof, of other investigations hinder the murder investigation?"

At this interesting question, Arnaud says that the answer is complex and could potentially impact ongoing investigations.

So the proceedings will continue behind closed doors. The inquiry will continue on Friday at 9.30am.

We'll have a round up at the top of this blog in the next few minutes.  

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A link with dirty oil

3.45pm Arnaud is asked about reports of possible connections between the Daphne Caruana Galizia murder and dirty oil. 

"Where did this link come from?" judge Lofaro asks.

Arnaud says that if you look at the past car bombs, many of them were believed to be linked to fuel smuggling. It was something on the police’s radar, but not something they gave a lot of importance to. “We couldn’t ignore it either,” he says.

Arnaud says the police had also found a few articles on Caruana Galizia's blog that had made reference to alleged fuel smugglers. 

He says the police did not give fuel smuggling a lot of importance once Melvin Theuma, self-confessed middleman in the murder, had been identified. Prior to that, however, he says it was "a theory". 

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Unsolved car bombs

3.42pm Arnaud is asked about the "string" of car bombs: "Weren't these solved, none?"

"None," answers Arnaud. He says one was eventually solved using methods employed in the Daphne Caruana Galizia case. 

He doesn't tell the court which one that is but he is likely referring to this case.

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Lack of resources

3.39pm Arnaud says that at the early stages of the investigation, they focused on the body of evidence: the bomb, the detonator, the mobile SIM card, the calls. And not on motive.

Arnaud says there was a lack of police resources, which seemed to be flagged particularly after the car bomb of Romeo Bone.

Arnaud is not sure if this had followed any political direction from the prime minister, to resolve what had at that point become a string of car bombs

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'Suspect 1, suspect 2, suspect 3'

3.36pm Asked about the OPM meetings, Arnaud says he only referred to the three alleged killers as  “suspect 1, suspect 2, suspect 3.” However he says he isn't 100 per cent sure whether they were then identified during the second OPM meeting. Asked whether the OPM meetings included details of what body of evidence the police had, Arnaud says "yes but in brief".

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Who knew about the arrests?

3.29pm By the time of the second briefing, the police had informed those present that they planned to go ahead with the arrest of the three suspected bombers. The police had given three potential dates for the arrest during the second OPM briefing - they wanted to find the best possible date for the operation, which involved 120 people. The possible dates were 4th, 5th and 10th December 2017. They settled on the 4th.

This date was later established in a separate meeting with the MSS and police. The board asks: "Who knew of this arrest date?" the board asks. He says the task force were all present for this meeting. The head and deputy head of Malta Security Services, Police Assistant Commissioner, Commissioner, AFM Brigadier and his two assistants.

Arnaud adds: "There was no one there who wasn’t in the disciplined forces." 

 

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Who was at the Prime Minister's briefings?

3.28pm Arnaud says that around the time of the first briefing, around a month after the October 2017 murder, they had identified the phones used to detonate the bomb. Before the arrest of the three alleged bombers in December 2017, Arnaud had been to two of these high-level meetings. Those present were:

• Armed Forces of Malta brigadier
• Prime Minister (then Joseph Muscat)
• Kurt Farrugia (government's head of communications)
• Head of the Malta Security Service was present at least once
• Silvio Valletta (assistant commissioner)

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OPM briefings

3.24pm Arnaud is asked about the OPM briefings. His first was on the invitation of Silvio Valletta around a month after the murder. Arnaud says he had never had meetings at Castille before, but he never had an investigation like this before. 

“Neither did Malta”, says judge Mallia.

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'Jesus smiled on us'

3.20pm Arnaud is asked what would happen when there was a difference of opinion? Who would take the final decision? Arnaud says there was no one who would do that. He explains that there was a systematic approach that was working, “Jesus smiled on us” and this approach kept leading us forward.

He is asked who was present for the meetings of the police’s investigation team: 

• Kevin Farrugia,
• Silvio Valletta,
• Europol for most meetings
• Keith Zahra
• Keith Arnaud

In these meetings they would speak openly about what the investigation was finding. 

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How work changed after Romeo Bone bomb

3.14pm Arnaud explains how after the 2017 car bomb that left Romeo Bone injured, police spent a "considerable sum" on a centralised database with contacts, phone numbers and tips. 

Silvio Valletta had overseen this process. But at the time of Daphne Caruana Galizia's murder later that year, the database was still "bare." So the investigation included "practically rolling out this new database".

You can read about the Romeo Bone car bomb here. 

 

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Bringing in the foreign experts

3.08pm Arnaud describes how they tackled the investigation. Zahra did the "field work", such as talking to witnesses and Arnaud communicated with international investigation partners. These included the Dutch, the FBI who arrived the next day, and Europol who arrived towards the end of that week.

Judge Said Pullicino asks: "Who took the decisions to involve these foreign experts?" Arnaud says it was his superiors. He recounts being told not to touch the crime scene on the first day, because the Dutch experts wanted to be there from the start of the process.

He is asked: "Did you lead the entire investigation at that early stage?"

Arnaud replies: "I don’t want to say I did, because Keith Zahra did his work, I did mine, then there were the foreign experts. We became one big team."

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The day of Daphne's murder

3.04pm Arnaud recounts how on the day of Daphne Caruana Galizia's murder, he wasn’t working - Kurt Zahra was. He recalls contacting Assistant Commissioner Silvio Valletta, and asking whether he should come in because of the gravity of the case. Zahra had only been with the unit for a year, having joined following the car bomb which left Romeo Bone mutilated in 2017. Arnaud felt the need to go to the site of the Caruana Galizia murder on the day. Valletta and Zahra were also there.

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Arnaud's CV

2.57pm Arnaud tells the court he joined the force as a constable in June 1996. He now reports to Assistant Commissioner Kevin Farrugia. Asked about any special training, he details the various courses he has taken including FBI training courses.

In 2012 he was the only inspector on homicide. After dealing with one homicide a month, he flagged that the workload was more than just one inspector. In 2017, he was joined by Kurt Zahra. And then, after Daphne Caruana Galizia's murder, he was given a third inspector: James Grech

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Arnaud takes the stand

2.54pm Inspector Keith Arnaud, the lead investigator into the murder case takes the stand. The court is told that, because of the ongoing court proceedings, some of Arnaud's evidence will be held behind closed doors. 

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Daphne 'denied access to information' because she did not have card

2.48pm One of the inquiry panel, judge Said Pullicino asks about Daphne Caruana Galizia and whether she had ever requested a card. Azzopardi says he has "no memory" of this and will check if it had happened under his predecessors.

Comodini Cachia, lawyer for the Caruana Galizia family, raises an instance when the blogger and journalist was unable to gain access to a Freedom Of Information request because she did not have a DOI card. Azzopardi says he was not head of the department at the time but that the Freedom of Information procedure is open to the public. 

Caruana Galizia had been trying to get information on MPs' tax returns. Azzopardi says he has no recollection of this happening. 

 

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Parameters for applying for a press access card 'not clear'

2.42pm  What if you don't have an editor to vouch for you, Azzopardi is asked. He says you can have a temporary access card for three months which is then extended if applying again. He concedes that the parameters for applying for a card are not clear enough. 

For context: In a previous sitting, the Shift journalist Caroline Muscat had raised concerns about not being granted access to DOI events. 

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What about foreign journalists?

2.35pm Azzopardi is now asked about press calls. These are alerts sent out to newsrooms about news conferences. He says the DOI issues them but ministries or other entities may chose to issue a press call on their own too. He is asked about other Maltese journalists who have an international press card, and whether that is taken into consideration. He replies: "That is not a DOI access card." He says countries have their own system for access and that it is the country’s own protocol. Asked whether the DOI recognises the press cards of foreign journalists, who come to Malta, he says they have to apply for an access card and follow the protocol. 

Regarding large scale events, like a papal visit, there is a screening process with the security services etc, and they are granted a special accreditation to cover the specific event they are here to cover.

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Access card denied

2.31pm Azzopardi is asked if he has ever refused an application for an access card. He says in his memory, he only remembers one instance, on the eve of an election, where a request was rejected. And he had decideed to do so himself.

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Who gets a press card?

2.27pm He is now asked about press cards, which are used by members of the media to prove they are journalists. He says he believes it is not the DOI’s role to decide who can have a press card and decide who is or is not a journalist so they changed the name to 'access card'. He explains the process: you need an editor to sign up a journalist and decide whether this person is or is not a journalist and they can apply for a DOI card for a journalist or photographer. 

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What about Shift News?

2.23pm Azzopardi is asked: “what about more established journalists like the Shift news? Can’t you send them an email?” He says the information is all made public. He also points to an RSS feed which notifies anyone who signs up about new statements published online. He says it has always been this way, under his watch.

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Media database

2.19pm Azzopardi confirms previous dossier of DOI statements presented by Comodini Cachia is official. He is asked if the DOI has a list of editors of publications. They do, he says. He also adds that all statements are released online and are therefore publicly available. He says registered media houses are in a database of emails. 

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Paul Azzopardi sworn in

2.15pm Azzopardi has been Director of Information for four years. He is being asked about the procedure for issuing government releases. They are received from the Office of the Prime Minister and and issued by DOI after ensuring that there is “no unsuitable language” or "excessive verbosity" Azzopardi says. These statements are then released by email and also put online in an official site.

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Correspondence on Daphne presented

2.13pm Therese Comodini Cachia, a lawyer for the Caruana Galizia family, has presented a list of statements issued by the DOI concerning the journalist before and after her death. Caroline Muscat of the Shift News presents correspondence between her and the DOI.

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Inquiry begins 

2.09pm Paul Azzopardi, the Department of Information chief, is expected to be first to give evidence this afternoon. He is represented by Dean Hili and Veronique Dalli. The panel have walked in. 

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What is the inquiry about?

2.06pm While we wait, here's a reminder about why we're here. The public inquiry follows a report on the state of the rule of law in Malta published in June 2019 by the Council of Europe. That report had specifically called on the government to set up a public inquiry, aimed at establishing whether the journalist’s death in 2017 could have been prevented and what safeguards may have failed in the process. Read an explainer here.