There was nothing unusual about journalists being blocked from leaving a room following a 3am press conference last November, a government official who was present that night testified on Monday.
Reuben Sciberras, who serves as the head of the Tourism Ministry's sectretariat, testified that it was “normal” for reporters to have to wait for the prime minister and ministers to exit before they were allowed out themselves.
“I was a journalist before 2013 and I saw that happen too,” he told a public inquiry into the murder of Daphne Caruana Galizia.
What was not normal, he told the inquiry, was the “hostile” environment that night.
Sciberras repeatedly insisted that he had nothing to do with the decision to lock journalists in and that he was just there doing his job.
“I cannot answer for anyone else,” he said. “I just waited until the door was opened and I was let out”.
Earlier, Sciberras testified that he knew nothing about who was being the ‘Truth Project’ and only knew that it was intended to discredit Daphne Project investigations.
Sciberras was one of two witnesses to testify during Monday’s session. The other was Yannick Pace, the outgoing chairperson of the Institute of Maltese Journalists.
Pace told the inquiry that the IĠM had no control over press cards, which were the sole remit of the Department of Information.
The IĠM had received complaints about certain journalists not being sent press invitations to government events, he said, though he also noted that “not all journalists seek help from the IĠM”.
Answering questions, he said that the IĠM had not conducted any research following reports that press freedom in Malta was spiralling downwards and acknowledged that the institute had limited resources.
His testimony prompted the board of inquiry to note that the IĠM seemed to require more teeth.
“Yes, it does,” Pace agreed.
The inquiry continues on Wednesday when police inspector Keith Arnaud and DOI director Paul Azzopardi are expected to testify.
As it happened
Court session ends
4.28pm That concludes events for today. The inquiry will resume on Wednesday, when Keith Arnaud and the director of the Department of Information, Paul Azzopardi, are expected to testify.
Thank you for following this live blog. We will have a summary of events from today’s court session available at the top of this article shortly.
Dead end
4.25pm There’s a bit more back-and-forth over events that night – “we know who opened the door”, the board tells the witness – but little is resolved.
After a bit of that, the board of inquiry decide to drop it. It appears they’ve given up hope of getting any further information from the witness.
Sciberras steps off the witness stand.
Passing the buck
4.18pm Sciberras insists he had nothing to do with organising the event or its security arrangements. The board is getting impatient. Everyone just seems to pass the buck, they remark. They all have a stock answer to give - 'It's not my job' [Dan mhux xogħoli].
Sciberras recognises a couple of other people in the photos he is shown, including a ‘Gerada’. There's also a 'Jason' who works as a messenger.
'I just waited'
4.15pm Lawyer Therese Comodini Cachia has some photos of the incident.
Sciberras is asked who the man standing next to him was.
“I think it was Scerri who worked at [OPM] customer care,” he says.
Judge Lofaro asks the witness if he was bothered by the fact that he was not allowed to leave the room.
“I just waited until the door was opened and I was let out,” he says.
'I cannot vouch for anyone else'
4.11pm Sciberras says there was tension “everywhere, even outside” and that he was there doing his job. “I cannot answer for anyone else who was there, your honour,” he says.
“I heard shouting and insults when I left the room. It was not a normal press conference environment”.
The board of inquiry ask whether the shouting got worse when the journalists were not allowed out of the room.
Sciberras reiterates that he had nothing to do with that decision and that he was "not guarding the door".
“I’m not in charge of security at Castille. I wasn’t one of those who kept journalists locked up”.
'Hostile environment'
4.05pm Sciberras is asked whether journalists were physically blocked from leaving the room.
“I had nothing to do with that. I want to make this clear. I was also not allowed to leave that day. My concern was to accompany minister Julia Farrugia Portelli out of that hostile environment, and I couldn’t do so”.
[Reminder: In late November, journalists who had just attended a somewhat surreal 3am press conference were prevented from leaving a room at the OPM for some minutes. Read or watch what happened].
Late-night Castille meeting
4.02pm Questioning now shifts to that late-night cabinet meeting last November.
Sciberras recalls that he had informed Farrugia Portelli about it. She was with her young daughter at the time.
He says he took her daughter home and then went back to the office.
Sciberras says that he too wanted to leave after the meeting, but couldn’t and had to wait.
“That was normal procedure. First the prime minister and minister leave, and then the media. I was a journalist before 2013 and I saw that happen too”.
Truth Project and Bedingfield
3.58pm Sciberras is asked whether he knows anything about the claims linking the murder to fuel smuggling.
“No. I didn’t have any discussions about that,” he says.
Sciberras is asked about the Truth Project [an online group which sought to discredit journalists following up on Daphne Caruana Galizia’s work].
He says that he doesn’t know much about it, other than that it was countering the Daphne Project. He’s asked whether Glenn Bedingfield had anything to do with it, but says he doesn’t know.
Sciberras worked with Bedingfield at One media, the board remarks.
“But that was way before Labour entered government,” he says.
Social media posts
3.51pm The board ask Sciberras whether he recalls any particular social media posts after the 2017 Caruana Galizia assassination.
“I’m not the type to post much,” he says.
“Do you recall two posts you uploaded on October 16, 2017?” the board asks. [Daphne Caruana Galizia was murdered that day].
Sciberras gets defensive.
“I did nothing wrong!”
Judge Abigail Lofaro reassures him.
"I'm not saying you did anything wrong. You do your work, and we are doing ours".
Political messaging
3.48pm The board want to know about policies concerning political messaging, and whether there was regular contact with [former government communications chief] Kurt Farrugia.
Sciberras tells the board that from 2017 onwards, he was no longer involved in communications.
“At the time of the assassination, I was already the head of secretariat,” he says.
What about criticism about Malta’s IIP [cash-for-passports] scheme?
“I was never asked to answer any criticism and never had discussions about that,” he says.
“Whenever there were questions about the citizenship program, they were always answered in parliament.”
The board want to know where the buck stopped.
“Ultimately, the head of communications was Kurt Farrugia,” he says.
Communicating with Daphne
3.44pm Sciberras says his only contact with Daphne Caruana Galizia was back in 2014, when she had contacted him looking for information about the hiring of Marisa Schembri.
“She mentioned me in her blog,” he says. “I don’t recall any other occasion when we had to issue a statement to answer Daphne,” he says.
No talk of Panama
3.41pm Did Sciberras discuss Panama Papers or (Dubai-registered company) Egrant, the board want to know.
Sciberras says he was only involved in matters concerning his remit. But the board is not buying that – “we’re talking about discussions, not duties”.
Reuben Sciberras testifies
3.38pm Sciberras takes the oath and prepares to testify.
He tells the inquiry that he serves as the head of secretariat at the Tourism Ministry – a post he was appointed to in January (when Julia Farrugia Portelli was appointed Tourism Minister).
Sciberras says he also worked with Farrugia Portelli when she was a parliamentary secretary within the OPM. He had an office on the second floor, opposite the prime minister’s office.
Sciberras also worked with Karmenu Vella and then Helena Dalli for three years, until 2017.
A second witness
3.32pm Today’s second witness will be Reuben Sciberras.
Corinne Vella, who is one of Daphne Caruana Galizia’s sisters, is presenting a dossier of information she has gathered about Sciberras. It’s composed of posts he published online about her sister and politics more generally.
Sciberras worked as a journalist as well as a communications coordinator at the OPM, civil liberties ministry and tourism ministry, she says.
Arnaud on Wednesday, Abdilla on Friday
3.27pm The board of inquiry is discussing upcoming hearings.
They plan on hearing the testimony of Caruana Galizia murder investigator Keith Arnaud and the director of the DOI, Paul Azzopardi, on Wednesday.
On Friday, the board would like to hear from economic crimes unit police chief Ian Abdilla.
Who qualifies for IĠM membership?
3.22pm The board of inquiry wants to know more about the criteria for IĠM membership.
People can still join the IĠM even if they are not recognised as members of the press by the DOI, Pace explains. There are guidelines, but each case is assessed on its own merits.
The DOI must acknowledge editors as such, he says. Managing an online news site is distinct from being recognised as an editor, Pace explains.
And with that, the outgoing IĠM chief is done testifying.
Daphne and the IĠM
3.15pm Comodini Cachia notes that Daphne Caruana Galizia was not an IĠM member and that the IĠM had even issued a statement condemning her. Julia Farrugia Portelli (who is now Tourism Minister) was an IĠM council member at the time.
Pace quickly notes that this all happened before he formed part of the IĠM.
He’s asked about the Media and Defamation Act. Was the IĠM consulted or involved in drafting it?
Again, Pace notes that this happened before he formed part of the IĠM.
'Didn't you do anything about it?'
3.10pm Pace says the IĠM received “a number” of complaints about press calls not being issued to everyone.
“Journalists are different, and so are their stories. Not all journalists seek help from the IĠM,” he says.
Aside from going to court, journalists can also seek information through Freedom of Information requests.
Comodini Cachia asks whether the IĠM did anything about FOI requests being frequently denied.
“We could make it public, but we cannot force an entity to act,” he replies.
“The problem is that in this country a journalist was murdered,” judge Said Pullicino says. “Didn’t you do anything about it?”
Pace says the IĠM issued a statement and argues that the police should protect journalists.
“We did ask for steps to be taken when journalists were threatened or prevented from doing their work. The IĠM is made of seven committee members. It’s limited in what it can do.
The board suggests the IĠM needs more teeth.
“Yes,” Pace agrees.
No Kurt Farrugia
3.02pm An aside from Yannick Pace's testimony - we're informed that Kurt Farrugia will not be testifying today and will appear at a later date. Farrugia has yet to be notified.
Discrimination
2.59pm Comodini Cachia: Did you have members complain of political discrimination? Were there journalists getting more information than others at government press conferences?
Pace says that there were incidents when not all journalists were notified - here's one example - and says that the Standards Commissioner had published a report about it.
Press freedom
2.57pm Lawyer Therese Comodini Cachia asks Pace whether the IĠM discussed or researched press freedom. (Malta currently ranks 77th worldwide on a press freedom index put together by Reporters Without Borders).
Pace says that there was no research carried out and that the IĠM always advised members to report cases of harassment to the police.
Castille incident
2.51pm Pace says the IĠM had filed a judicial protest following a November incident at the OPM, when journalists had been barred from leaving a room.
He’s asked about SLAPP cases. “We had asked for a solution to these cases,” he says.
Pace is asked whether the IĠM sought legal advice about such cases.
"Our financial resources are limited," he says.
No complaints
2.48pm Press cards are not covered by any law, Pace says. He says that the IĠM keeps a press register. The institute is technically a voluntary organisation, but it has no power to regulate press cards. That is the DOI’s remit, he says.
Pace is asked whether he received reports of incidents regarding journalists.
“In the past six months or so, none,” he replies.
Press cards
2.43pm The IĠM has no interaction with the State, Pace says. It had met with the Department of Information to discuss press cards last year, he adds. Those cards were turned into access cards in January 2019 and therefore fall under the DOI’s remit.
Yannick Pace to testify
2.38pm Yannick Pace will be the day’s first witness. Pace is the chair of the Institute of Maltese Journalists and until recently worked as a journalist with Malta Today. He now works as a senior policy officer at the Dutch embassy.
He tells the inquiry that while he is technically still the chair of the IĠM, a successor will be elected next month. It doesn't seem right to stay on as chair, given that he is no longer a journalist, he says.
Evarist Bartolo request
2.36pm Lawyer Jason Azzopardi, who is representing the Caruana Galizia family, wants Evarist Bartolo [Malta’s foreign affairs minister] to testify, following his interview on German TV station Deutsche Welle. He’s given the board of inquiry a copy of the interview.
Have a read: 10 takeaways from Evarist Bartolo's interview.
What happened last time?
2.28pm Last week, the inquiry heard the testimony of a former OPM worker, Ronnie Vella, and that of Keith Schembri’s former personal assistant, Charlene Bianco Farrugia.
Vella was grilled about a 2017 occasion when he was spotted in a Rabat bar as he took photos of somebody.
Bianco Farrugia acknowledged that she “sometimes” [ġieli] saw Yorgen Fenech at the Office of the Prime Minister. The rest of her testimony was held behind closed doors.
Welcome
2.20pm Good afternoon, and welcome to this live blog. We'll be bringing you live updates from the law courts in Valletta, where the Caruana Galizia inquiry continues.