The former assistanto to former OPM chief of staff Keith Schembri told a public inquiry that she often saw Yorgen Fenech at Castille.

Testifying before a public inquiry into the murder of Daphne Caruana Galizia, Charlene Bianco Farrugia said she cannto say how many times it happened but she saw him there "often".

Fenech is accused of complicity in the murder of the journalist. Schembri resigned in November after his name was mentioned in police investigations into the murder.

Most of Bianco Farrugia's evidence was given behind closed doors on the insistence of her lawyer because she is also testifying in another inquiry.

Journalists were asked to leave the courtroom just a few minutes into her testimony.

Another witness was Ronnie Vella, who worked at the OPM until last January.

Former judge Michael Mallia is chairing the inquiry board, while Chief Justice Emeritus Joseph Said Pullicino and Judge Abigail Lofaro are the board’s other two members. The inquiry's terms of reference stipulate that it must be concluded within nine months.

The public inquiry will have to determine whether any wrongful action or omission by or within any State entity could have facilitated the assassination of Caruana Galizia or failed to prevent it, particularly whether the State knew or should have known of risks to the journalist’s life “at the time” of her murder.

The Prime Minister has to table the report in Parliament within five days of receiving it. 

The Caruana Galizia family are assisted by Therese Comodini Cachia and Jason Azzopardi.

The next sitting will be held on Friday.

Follow minute by minute proceedings below: Please refresh for latest updates

3.40pm: The next sitting is on Friday at 9am.

3.38pm: The testimony will continue behind closed doors. Journalists have been asked to leave as their will nbe no more testimonies today.

3.37pm: "I think there are public records as well saying that he was often seen in Castille," she says. "I don't know whether he signed a guestbook or anything like that. But, yes, I often saw him. I can't say how many times because I don't remember."

3.36pm: Said Pullicino asks whether Yorgen Fenech was ever at Castille. Her lawyer interjects and says that she will answer this question behind closed doors... She is pressed to answer. Yes or no? "Yes, I often saw him," she says.

3.34pm:  She says that she had an office in the same floor as Schembri's office and Joseph Muscat's office and shared this office with four other individuals. Kenneth Azzopardi took her place as Schembri's assistant, she says.

3.33pm: Bianco Farrugia says she started working at the Malta Information Technology Agency recently and before that, she used to work at the OPM. In 2013 she started working as the personal assistant of Keith Schembri, and then in April 2016, she started taking care of government projects across ministries, liaising with respective ministries to see that projects are completed.

3.27pm: Charlene Bianco Farrugia has just entered the courtroom and has been asked to take the stand. Her lawyer is asking that her testimony be heard behind closed doors. This is due to an ongoing inquiry that she is testifying in, the lawyer says, but it is unclear what inquiry he is referring to.

3.26pm: Ronnie Vella's deposition has been suspended. Judge Mallia says that people who testified previously might have to be brought back to testify again in light of new information that is being obtained by the board.

3.25pm: The incident took place between 10:30am and 11am on 25 May 2017, during the general election campaign at the time. Vella confirms that he often reported things that might have been of interest to the Labour party to former chief of staff Keith Schembri.

3.21pm: Judge Mallia suddenly notices something on the stills. "I have a date and time here. You said the press conference was in the morning but the date here reads 10pm." Vella shakes his head. "No, no, I swear. Under oath, this cannot be possible." Comodini Cachia intervenes and says that the date on the still is wrong. Mallia and Lofaro nod. "Alright then. We're sorry. Let's carry on."

3.19pm: Vella says he sometimes reports things that might be of interest to the party. "I often sent things to Keith Schembri," he says.

3.17pm: Comodini Cachia asks him whether he usually remembered journalists at press conferences. "When you look at the pictures we just showed you, you don't recognise those faces at the coffee shop? Do you know whether they are journalists?" "Is it part of your work to take footage or report people who are of interest to the Labour Party?" the lawyer continues.

3.15pm: Comodini Cachia asks him whether the coffee shop was on the way from the press conference in Buskett to the Labour Party headquarters. "It's a coincidence that we ended up in that bar," Ronnie says, adding that he was not profiling anyone.

3.14pm: The board of inquiry is pressing him on this issue. Abigail Lofaro is telling him that in the photograph, he has his mobile out, pointing it at other individuals, but he's not looking at the phone screen as if he is trying to seem inconspicuous. Vella  shakes his head and says he does not remember taking footage of other people.

3.12pm: The stills seem to have been obtained from CCTV footage. Vella breaks the silence after looking at the picture and says that he doesn't remember taking footage, contending that it's not normal behaviour for one to take footage of other individuals in public.

3.09pm: The board of inquiry show him a photograph of himself again and ask him what he was doing at the time. The picture shows him holding the mobile and pointing it at a group of people in the shop. "Did you take footage or take a photograph of any individuals inside this coffee shop?" the board asks. Ronnie is closely analysing the photograph, wearing his spectacles to do so.

3.07pm: Vella says that the meeting probably had something to do with a press conference that former prime minister Joseph Muscat had held in the area. He says that he does not meet this individual anymore, at least not on a habitual basis. Ronnie also identifies the coffee shop in Rabat.

3.06pm: Vella has been shown a picture of the other person he was allegedly present with in Rabat and he identifies him. The inquiry board has ordered, however, that name is not be mentioned to protect their identity.

3.02pm: He is asked whether he ever saw Neville Gafà in Castille and Vella says that he often saw him. He says that he is unaware of whether Keith Schembri and Yorgen Fenech were friends. "Nobody ever told me anything," he says.

3.01pm: Vella is now asked whether he had ever seen Yorgen Fenech in Castille. "No," he says. "I have never seen him on the third floor. I never saw him there." Vella says he only knows Yorgen Fenech from the latest news.

2.59pm: Ronnie Vella was present in Castille after a long cabinet meeting last November that lasted until the early hours of the morning and where, notoriously, journalists were unable to leave the conference room. At one point, Ronnie is seen blocking the doors in online videos.

2.54pm: Said Pullicino pushes further, asks Vella whether he was with another person in Rabat and was following an individual and obtaining information. Even though he is shown a photograph of himself at the Rabat coffee shop that the board is referring to, Vella insists that he does not remember.

2.50pm: Joseph Said Pullicino is asking Vella whether he was ever asked (around May 2017) to follow someone in a coffee shop in Rabat. He says, "no." "Be careful," Judge Abigail Lofaro warns. "You are under oath. Be careful of getting caught not telling the truth." "2017 is not yesterday. I can't remember what the event was," Vella says. "If I tell you that you were at a certain bar with another man..." Said Pullicino says. Vella insists that he doesn't remember.

2.47pm: Vella says he was employed with the Planning Authority in 2015. In May 2017, he says that was involved with the electoral campaign of the Labour Party.

2.46pm: In reply to a question by Judge Mallia, Vella says that he often followed Daphne's blogs. Vella says that he never really discussed Daphne's blogs with anyone. "It doesn't interest me," he says.

2.41pm: Vella says that he's unsure of whether he was a person of trust or not before his communications role. "I spent more time with Ray Barbara than Kurt Farrugia, because I had more to do with the setup of press conferences, the logistics," he says.

2.40pm: Ronnie Vella says that he is a projects manager at Projects Malta and has been occupying this role since 12 January 2020 after he left his work with the OPM. "I used to work in the communications office at OPM," he says and that he has spent four months in this role.

2.38pm: Vella’s lawyer has entered the courtroom and explains that Ronnie was called by the police numerous times on a particular incident. "I am informed that he was called twice but there were some things that needed to be cleared. He hasn't met with police yet," his lawyer says. The lawyer says that his client will collaborate fully unless he is asked to say things that might prejudice him in an ongoing investigation.

2.37pm: Ronnie Vella is called by the board to come in from the hallway. He enters and takes the stand. Ronnie Vella answers questions about himself, where he was born and where he lives.

2.34pm: "The deal was closed in between my mother's murder and the information of 17 Black being owned by Fenech coming out. Everything happened within that window, including the party itself," Matthew says, concluding his testimony.

2.33pm: The party represented the closing of the Electrogas deal and took place at Level 22 at Portomaso. Yorgen Fenech was supposed to give a speech at the party. "They wanted to commission the speech, which is why they included a line in the [company] budget to do so. The speech, however, was cancelled, and Fenech did not give a speech," Matthew says, adding that the party took place after his mother's assassination.

2.32pm: Matthew presents an invite sent to a list of 238 people for an Electrogas party. "Yorgen Fenech was the organiser of the party," Matthew says. Fenech, who is now accused with complicity in the murder, is a shareholder in the Electrogas consortium and was one of its directors. The significance, he says, is that Joseph Muscat, Michelle Muscat, Charlene Bianco Farrugia, Neville Gafà, Kenneth Azzopardi, Keith Schembri's former private secretary, and Ketih Schembri himself are all listed as invitees.

2.28pm: "Just before my mother's murder, there were worries that Electrogas was going to default on the payment of its loan. After my mother's murder, the government decided to extend the guarantee so Electrogas was able to continue purchasing gas from Socar," Matthew says.

2.27pm: Matthew Caruana Galizia now takes the stand, presenting an email from the Electrogas servers. "The leak was initially received by my mother at the start of 2017, around February, and I assisted my mother in the receipt of further email and documents from the same leak, which is why I have access to them," he says.

2.24pm: Michelle Muscat's name was also listed. Her email address, Vella says, is [email protected]. "That C doesn't indicate a middle name. It simply distinguishes her from other Michelle Muscats."

2.22pm: The final document presented by Vella is based on a blog post that Daphne had published in 2013: a list of secretarial contacts, 32 names in total, along with their emails. Joseph Muscat's email address is also listed.

2.21pm: She also submits a brief document on Ronnie Vella. “He was identified as a member of the communications team at OPM. There is plenty of photographic evidence showing that he was with the Prime Minister Joseph Muscat, but he does not interact with the media at all. He just stands at the side.”

2.20pm: "The document which I presented today is a document which was tabled in parliament among posts that had Daphne's name in their text," Vella says.

2.19pm: Corinne Vella presents a document: a printed post from Glenn Bedingfield's website that reads 'Murder will out', which Daphne had, her sister says, interpreted as a death threat. The post, she says, has since then been taken down.

2.18pm: Comodini Cachia has informed the board that Corinne Vella and Matthew Caruana Galizia will be testifying first, in short.

2.17pm:The inquiry board members have entered the courtroom - Mr Justice Emeritus Michael Mallia, Chief Justice Emeritus Joseph Said Pullicino, and Judge Abigail Lofaro.

2.07pm: The main witnesses who will be testifying in today's sitting are Ronnie Vella, a member of staff at the OPM, and Charlene Bianco Farrugia, Keith Schembri's personal assistant. They are both sitting outside the courtroom.