Maltese politicians ‘involved’ in plot to kill Daphne Caruana Galizia, court hears | Malta

Two political figures who previously held powerful government positions in Malta were accused of plotting to kill journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia when they testified in court on Wednesday.

The allegations against a former economy minister and a former private secretary to the prime minister were made on a chaotic day in the justice courts in Valletta, where businessman Yorgen Fenech is on trial for ordering the assassination of Caruana Galizia in 2017.

The jury heard from brothers George and Alfred Degiorgio, underworld figures who admitted planting a car bomb that killed the journalist and were sentenced to 40 years in prison.

The two men named former economy minister Chris Cardona and Keith Schembri, then the prime minister’s private secretary and Malta’s most powerful unelected government official, as “connected” to the murder. They also named attorney David Gatt, an associate of Cardona.

The first to testify was Alfred Degiorgio, who was brought from prison to testify. “Before I give evidence I want to say that Chris Cardona, David Gatt and Keith Schembri were involved in the murder,” he told the court.

Degiorgio did not go into further detail. He claimed that he could not testify because he was appealing his sentence to the European Court of Human Rights. He was interrogated by defense and prosecution lawyers throughout the morning. Each time he replied, “I will not answer.”

Judge Edwina Grima ordered Alfred Degiorgio detained for contempt of court and requested his return for a hearing on the matter within 48 hours.

George Degiorgio testified in the afternoon and the jury heard a series of detailed arguments.

“The killing started in 2015,” he claimed, later adding: “It was Chris Cardona who gave me the orders in 2015.”

Recalling the alleged plot, he said: “I was at home. David Gatt called me and said he wanted to talk. I went to the potato shed and we met there. He said to me, ‘Come with me, Cardona wants to talk to you’… Cardona was in a bar, sitting at the Red Bull table. We had a drink and he said to me, ‘I want you to kill Daphne’. I asked him who Daphne was and he told me David.” [Gatt] He would explain.

“I told him it would cost 150,000 euros…”

“I asked him [Cardona] The person involved said: ‘Me, Keith, the commissioner and someone else.’ “He said he didn’t know the other person.”

George claimed that Cardona wanted the journalist killed “because he would disrupt our party.” Cardona and Schembri were members of the administration of prime minister Joseph Muscat, who, as Labor leader, ended long-term rule by the Nationalist party in 2013. By 2015, Caruana Galizia had published a series of studies on the management of Muscat.

George claimed that he was taken to meet Cardona again about five days later and that Cardona gave him €50,000 in cash. He said the assigned partners began spying on the journalist’s home but stopped after a police patrol car passed their vantage point.

She said she filed a complaint, and a few days later Cardona showed up and told her, “You can move on, there won’t be any police passing by there anymore.” Degiorgio told the court he assumed Cardona was talking to the police commissioner.

He claimed that the murder plot was stopped at Gatt’s request. “We knew where to kill him… then David Gatt came and told us to stop everything because there was an election coming up, some kind of snap election.”

The only elections held that year were the council and European parliament elections in April 2015.

Degiorgio said the plan was to stop Caruana Galizia on the road and shoot him. He claimed that when the plan was canceled Gatt told him “keep the money, I’ll handle it”.

George avoided talking about the 2017 murder during his testimony, citing his own challenge to the European Court of Human Rights. However, he claimed that Cardona and Schembri were also behind the conspiracy in 2017, claiming that this was confirmed by Cardona.

The controversy escalated after George was questioned by the prosecution about why he had not named two men in connection with the plot in late 2017 during his earlier affidavits. He shouted at the prosecution attorney before turning to the jurors and saying, “Be careful.”

Judge Grima intervened, finding him guilty of contempt of court and fining him 500 euros.

“Make it €1,000 instead of €500,” Degiorgio shouted in response.

Cardona, Schembri and Gatt have previously denied any involvement in Caruana Galizia’s death.

In a statement released on Tuesday, Caruana Galizia’s family said: “The defense appears to be inviting the jury to consider whether responsibility for the assassination of Daphne lies elsewhere, whether the mastermind was Keith Schembri or Chris Cardona, not Yorgen Fenech. “But the allegations alone do not constitute evidence.

“There was not enough evidence presented in court to show that Keith Schembri or Chris Cardona paid for Daphne’s assassination.”

Transcript and translation by Amphora Media