Former government minister Chris Cardona on Thursday testified before a jury trial and told jurors why he had never taken action against claims that he was responsible for a plot to assassinate journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia in 2015.

Testifying in the trial by jury against George Degiorgio, Jamie Vella, and brother Robert and Adrian Agius, Cardona was asked this specific question: why had he never taken legal action against a claim that he had masterminded an assassination plot against Caruana Galizia in 2015.

The claim was made by Vince Muscat, known as il-Koħħu, who has been the prosecution’s star witness in this jury trial.  Muscat is one of three hitmen who carried out Caruana Galizia’s eventual assassination in 2017 and he is serving a 15-year jail sentence over the murder.

Muscat has claimed that there had been a previous plot to kill the journalist back in 2015 and that it was Cardona, who at the time was still a government minister, who was behind the plot.  Muscat testified under oath that he had dropped George Degiorgio off to meet Cardona at Portomaso and that the two had settled on a fee of €150,000 for the hit on the journalist.

Cardona has consistently denied any form of involvement in the plot and in Caruana Galizia’s eventual murder.

He told jurors on Thursday that he could not take any legal action on the claims because they were based on hearsay:  ergo someone repeating was they had been told by someone else.

Cardona was summoned to testify by defence lawyers in the trial against the Maksar gang, which has now been ongoing for several weeks.

Robert Agius and Jamie Vella are accused of procuring the bomb that killed Caruana Galizia in 2017, while Adrian Agius and George Degiorgio – who is already serving a 40-year jail sentence for killing Caruana Galizia – are accused of murdering lawyer Carmel Chircop in 2015.

Testifying, lawyer Arthur Azzopardi, who for a time served as a defence lawyer for Vince Muscat, said he had never requested in writing, on behalf of his client, the €1 million reward the government had offered for information on the Caruana Galizia murder.

He said he only did so by word of mouth, adding there was no particular reason for and that it is a normal process.

Azzopardi says his client was afraid to eat food in prison, since he feared it could be poisoned.

Azzopardi insisted that he had proposed to investigating officer Keith Arnaud to disseminate the news within the police force that Muscat was going to retract what he had said. Azzopardi said it was a way of exposing the source of leaks to the Degiorgio brothers since information was reaching them in some way.

Prosecuting officer Godwin Cini Cini asks Azzopardi whether his client, Vince Muscat, had been angered when he spoke to Arnaud about retraction. Azzopardi insisted the issue of retraction was never discussed seriously since it was a plot to try and flush out those who were leaking information from within the police force.

Azzopardi also told the court that Muscat was scared of a threat, saying that acid would be thrown at one of his family member's face. Azzopardi added that Muscat was mostly concerned about something bad happening to his daughter.

The prosecution then began its second and final address to the court room, with Lawyer Anthony Vella telling jurors that this will be the last time that the prosecution will address them, as the law states that the defence should have the last word.

The lawyer told the jury that Kevin Ellul Double Zero was no longer suspected of being the person who worked on the bombs, as had he been in the device's vicinity when it exploded, he would have been severely injured.

The lawyer questions how one could rely on Nicole Brignone's testimony when everything she said she heard from Kevin Ellul had been denied by Ellul himself. The lawyer also said that when asked certain key details she would say she did not know.

He said Ellul ended up in the middle of the allegation because of a lie. "Only God knows why he ended up in the lie, he has nothing to do with this attack." He said that it was never heard in the investigation that Ellul was in company of any of those accused in the Caruana Galizia murder.

Judge Edwina Grima is presiding over the trial.

Prosecutors Godwin Cini, Danika Vella and Anthony Vella are representing the Attorney General’s office.

Defence lawyer Nicholas Mifsud is appearing for Adrian Agius, Ishmael Psaila and Amadeus Cachia for Jamie Vella, Alfred Abela and Rene Darmanin representing Robert Agius, and Noel Bianco and Leslie Cuschieri for George Degiorgio.

Lawyers Jason Azzopardi and Therese Comodini Cachia are assisting the Caruana Galizia family, while Vince Galea is assisting the Chircop family.