The murder of journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia has had a chilling effect on witnesses in her libel suits, her lawyer has told a court, as Sai Mizzi Liang attempted to pour cold water on allegations that she had left Malta for good.

This morning Sai Mizzi Liang testified in the libel case filed by her husband, Minister Konrad Mizzi, against Daphne Caruana Galizia, telling magistrate Francesco Depasquale that she had come to Malta “many times”.

Caruana Galizia, who was killed in a targeted bomb attack outside her home last year, had alleged that Mizzi had been having an extramarital affair with his communications aide Lindsey Gambin, claiming that this was the reason why "his wife left for China." Mizzi denies the allegations.

But testifying from a secret location via Skype this morning, Mizzi Liang said she visited Malta regularly and was “coming again soon.”

Lawyer Joe Zammit Maempel examined the witness.

He asked her to list the visits she had made to Malta since 2014. She laughed. “Quite a lot. I can’t remember, many times. Every holiday I had I came over. Summer holidays, Christmas…I don’t remember the number exactly.”

“This year?” suggested the lawyer. “I just came for Easter…I’m coming again soon,” she replied.

Last year she had come for a “summer holiday, spring festival, Easter, the election. Every school holiday, too.”

Asked whether she would ever send her children alone, she replied “I always bring my children when I came.”
Mizzi Liang said she stayed at “our home in Sliema”, and that the children had “stayed with us and our family.”

She excluded that she had stayed in a hotel. “That is a completely lie.”

Her brief testimony over, the court fixed the date for the next sitting, in which the defendant is to give evidence. “After one of my witnesses was blown up, I have a bit of a problem” said Zammit Maempel, explaining that nobody wanted to testify.

The case continues in October.

Lawyer Aaron Mifsud Bonnici and Abigail Critien are representing Mizzi and his wife. Lawyer Joseph Zammit Maempel is counsel to the Caruana Galizia family.