The compilation of evidence against Yorgen Fenech, who is accused of conspiring to murder journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia, continued in court on Wednesday.
It was a relatively short, but tense, sitting.
Highlights from Thursday's case:
Defence team lawyer Charles Mercieca said:
- Murder middleman Melvin Theuma's pardon was negotiated and bought with the consent of former police commissioner Lawrence Cutajar;
- Theuma got the presidential pardon for €17,000 through il-Ġojja and the prosecution has chosen to remain silent;
- Prosecution coached Theuma on how to testify on witness stand;
- There are taped recordings between Theuma and former police assistant commissioner Mario Tonna;
- Certain recordings remain hidden.
Lead inspector Keith Arnaud said:
- Claims of prosecution coaching Theuma were false;
- Investigations into Fenech are still ongoing;
- Il-Ġojja chose to remain silent during interrogation;
- Confirms that intelligence information shows that at one point il-Ġojja told Theuma to mention Fenech by name;
Case adjourned
11.40am The magistate closes today's compilation of evidence, and adjourns until December 2.
We'll be back with you shortly with the highlights of today's session.
Report on Theuma's health expected
11.35am Mercieca asks if there are any updates on Theuma's health situation. (Theuma was involved in a stabbing incident at his home last July)
The court had appointed experts to examine him. They will report back to the court before he returns to testify.
Arguments persist on phone data
11.28am The parties continue bickering over phone data.
The court says that the request for the call profiles was still too vast in scope.
How can you ask for all data for a whole year, including for instance calls by Mr X to his wife?
Jason Azzopardi remarks loudly to Arnaud. “He (Charles Mercieca) wants you to breach the law!”
Nadia Attard from the AG's office stands up now. The defence should re-formulate its request.
"You should file an application, that’s the procedure, colleague!" she adds (Mercieca and Attard were indeed colleagues at the AG's office until last year)
Magistrate tells Mercieca that such a request may be done and formulated accordingly.
Arnaud holds his ground. The defence must indicate why it wants data concerning particular individuals, he says.
The defence says it is not in a position to limit its request for the retention of call profile data to certain individuals due to the fact that it has not been given the necessary information by the police probing the crime.
Court directs defence to file an application, supporting its request for such data to make it more specific.
Former police boss was on the phone
11.15am Mercieca says that in the audio visual recording of the interrogation (we're not sure which one), former police commissioner was constantly on the phone, going in and out of the room.
He demands the call profiles of mobile phones of Cutajar and Brincat.
"It could be that Theuma has more than one phone number. We don’t know. Preserving data from one number could possibly eliminate data from the rest."
Former police chief Lawrence Cutajar.Who's who?
11.12am You might be getting confused with the names being thrown in during this tense court session. Let’s try simplify it:
Edwin Brincat (Il-Ġojja) is close to state witness Melvin Theuma and also close with former police commissioner Lawrence Cutajar.
Johann Cremona is a director of a gaming company and was part of Fenech’s Tumas Group business empire. Mario Tonna is a former assistant police commissioner.
Charles Mercieca is the lawyer making Fenech's case, Keith Arnaud is the lead inspector.
Theuma's voice on recordings
11.05 The defence team has further questions.
Mercieca: "You and (Kurt) Zahra interrogated Johann Cremona. Had you played the tapes?"
Arnaud: "Yes."
Mercieca: "You asked him if he recognised Melvin's voice?"
Arnaud: "I believe so. But I’m not sure he said so on tape. I believe he did."
Mercieca: "Was it Melvin's voice that were on these 'hidden' recordings?"
Arnaud: "I believe so. But I cannot swear it is him."
Mercieca: "Can you confirm that Yorgen Fenech's investigations are concluded?"
Arnaud: "No, they are not concluded."
The court orders the prosecution to indicate those parts of the audio visual recordings, which refer to other crimes not related to the accused and these proceedings.
Told to mention 'Yorgen by name'
11am Arnaud says that the matter is now clear. The phone taps referred to are sourced from intelligence.
"We used them when interrogating Brincat (il-Ġojja) who chose the right to remain silent. It was a technique used by us to push him. He remained silent throughout. It was a different matter. It was intelligence we got from elsewhere.
"Did we do anything wrong? We wanted to trigger il-Ġojja into speaking. But that intelligence was not part of evidence in this case," Arnaud explains.
"Yes, it’s true that at one point il-Ġojja told Melvin Theuma to mention Yorgen by name (in the recordings). We wanted to find out how much il-Ġojja knew about the case."
Having settled that, Arnaud now presents the DVDs containing interrogations of Theuma.
The 'other' recordings
10.53am Defence team says Edwin Brincat (Il-Ġojja) had urged Theuma to “put words in Yorgen's mouth”, and to refer to him as "Yorgen" in the secret recordings so as to better identify who he was speaking about.
All this was in phone taps between Brincat and Theuma, the defence says.
"And while we are told that investigations are still ongoing, it’s clear that Fenech's investigations are concluded," Charles Mercieca says.
"While we ask for bail, we are constantly told that investigations are ongoing, with no end in sight."
Mercieca challenges Arnaud to minute that he does not know of recordings concerning (former assistant police commissioner) Mario Tonna.
Inspectors Kurt Zahra and Keith Arnaud entering court in a file photo. Photo: Chris Sant Fournier'Coaching' allegation shot down
10.45am Arnaud strongly denies the coaching allegation made by the defence.
Arnaud and Mercieca bicker over use of “stratagems” by prosecution.
"Are we to ask for permission from defence now," the lead inspector says.
"As for recordings with Mario Tonna, we know nothing about those. Please let us know if you do," he adds.
"As for investigation, yes, as a matter of fact, it’s still ongoing. Sometimes it's slow, sometimes it picks up pace. If necessary we’ll speak to witness again. We even did so audio visually to make it as transparent as possibly."
Arnaud challenges the defence team to say whether there are other secret recordings related to the crime.
Jason Azzopardi butts in: "This is all a media stunt. That’s not the way things are done. The court is not a “skip” to be landed with notes."
Case was 'orchestrated'
10.40am The inquiring magistrate noted that he could not proceed with inquiry at one point. But eight months lapsed and prosecuting officers did nothing about it and crucial evidence was not preserved, the defence team hits out.
Mercieca adds: "There are taped recordings between Theuma and Mario Tonna, and more. How can we feel safe that there is not suppression of evidence? This crime was a frame up on Yorgen Fenech. Prosecution denied these recordings, their very existence."
Arnaud: "Which are these?"
Magistrate: "Are these in records of the case?"
Mercieca: "These are evidence we’ve been asking for and still not received. And meanwhile investigations continue, while Yorgen Fenech is in jail, presumed innocent. This case was orchestrated by a liar to blame it on Fenech. This goes against presumption of innocence and fundamental rights of Fenech.
"The prosecution knew about this. The magisterial inquiry was lying dormant at AG for eight whole months."
Yorgen Fenech and Melvin Theuma.Pardon was 'bought'
10.30am Fenech's defence team says that in view of “certain things which have been going on” the defence is losing faith in the prosecution.
Lawyer Jason Azzopardi interrupts: "In that case, it works both ways".
Arnaud says that it should be court to decide what is relevant and what not. All this pivots around the defence team’s request to make sure that data concerning third parties is removed from records of compilation.
Lawyer Charles Mercieca says that a chain of events have happened from day one of arraignment.
He says middleman Melvin Theuma's pardon was negotiated and bought with the consent of the former police commissioner. He says he got the pardon for €17,000 through il-Ġojja and the prosecution has chosen to remain silent on this.
The prosecution coached Theuma on how to testify on witness stand, he says.
Besides, certain voice recordings were hidden by the prosecution.
"We know this because these recordings have not been yet found in other proceedings. These are the ones wherein Theuma implicates others but not Fenech in the murder."
Off we go
10.20am Magistrate takes her place. She says there were two applications, one by Fenech asking for the appointment of an expert to sift through electronic data: the request has been rejected.
Another application by the parte civile team will be considered at a later stage.
Parties gather in court
10.05am Witnesses and family members are gathering in Hall 9, one of the more spacious ground floor halls.
Yorgen Fenech has just arrived, escorted by five armed officers. He’s taken a seat, as laywers Charles Mercieca and Gianluca Caruana Curran immediately approach him to have a private chat.
Lead inspector Keith Arnaud takes his place at the table right in front of the magistrate’s bench.
Laywer Charles Mercieca is one of the lawyers on Fenech's defence team.What to expect today
10am Today's session is likely to be devoted largely to the defence team's presentation of evidence. The last sitting held one October 6, was held away from the media glaze.
Who's who in the legal team
9.55am Here's a quick glossary of some of the defence and prosecution names involved in the case.
Defence lawyers are: Marion Camilleri, Gianluca Caruana Curran and Charles Mercieca.
For the prosecution: Inspectors Keith Arnaud and Kurt Zahra. They're assisted by Philip Galea Farrugia and Nadia Attard, from the Attorney General's office.
Lawyers for Daphne Caruana Galizia's family: Jason Azzopardi and Therese Comodini Cachia.
Magistrate Rachel Montebello is hearing the compilation of evidence.