Three men who had been acquitted after facing charges of detaining journalists after a late-night cabinet meeting in November 2019 have been found guilty after the judgement was appealed.

The attorney general has appealed the acquittal of Jody Pisani, Mark Gauci and Emanuel McKay who had been charged with holding the journalists against their will in the very early hours of that November 29 morning at the end of an extraordinary press conference following a marathon ministerial meeting. 

That night cabinet had discussed, and subsequently rejected, a request for a presidential pardon by Yorgen Fenech, the businessman charged with complicity in the assassination of Daphne Caruana Galizia. 

Daphne’s son, Paul, was among the journalists caught up in that late-night drama at Castille when three men, claiming to be security officers, had waited for former Prime Minister Joseph Muscat to exit the building before allowing members of the media to leave. 

Monique Agius, Miguela Xuereb and Julian Bonnici were among the journalists in the room and captured the scene on mobile footage that was later presented in court as evidence. 

Yet, after examining video of that six-minute incident and other evidence put forward, the magistrates’ court concluded that the elements of illegal arrest had not been proven and found the three men not guilty. 

This case was appealed by the attorney general and, on Tuesday, the court of criminal appeal, presided over by Mr Justice Aaron Bugeja, overturned the acquittal, finding them guilty and conditionally discharging them for six months.

Lawyers Ramona Attard, Charlon Gouder and Matthew Xuereb were defence counsel. AG lawyer Etienne Savona prosecuted. Lawyer Peter Caruana Galizia appeared parte civile.