The public inquiry into the assassination of Daphne Caruana Galizia continues today, with a request made by Daphne Caruana Galizia's family to have Foreign Minister Evarist Bartolo testify.
The outgoing chairman of the Institute of Maltese Journalists Yannick Pace and the head of tourism secretariat Reuben Sciberras testified.
The journalist was killed in a car bomb on 16 October 2017.
Judge Michael Mallia is leading the inquiry, with the other two members of the board being chief Justice Joseph Said Pullicino and Madam Justice Abigail Lofaro.
The inquiry was set up to determine whether any wrongful action or omission by, or within, any State entity facilitated the assassination or failed to prevent it and to establishing whether the State had and has in place effective criminal law provisions and other practical means to avoid the development of a de facto state of impunity through the frequent occurrence of unresolved criminal acts.
Jason Azzopardi and Therese Comodini Cachia are representing the Caruana Galizia family.
Follow the minute by minute proceedings below. Please refresh for latest updates
4.25pm: The public inquiry will continue on Wednesday at 2pm.
4.24pm: That question is the final one in Sciberras' testimony, and for the day.
4.23pm: Questions again turn to his place at the conference. "Did you try open the door?" , Comodini Cachia asks. "No, I was waiting", is the reply. "Waiting for what?", she asks; "for the doors to open", Sciberras chimes back.
4.17pm: He is asked whether it had seemed odd to him that there were strangers barring the door, but notes that he did not question it as it wasn't his brief. He states that he does not know who the head of security at Castille, something which the board finds hard to believe. The board laments that nobody not knowing anything outside their direct remit seems to be the stock answer.
4.13pm: He is shown pictures of the incident. "The journalists are in front of me - as you can see I am not blocking the door, or anyone else...I then moved to the side and waited like everyone else", he states. He recognises one of the men as a certain "Scerri", but does not recall his first name.
4.10am: He is asked who had stopped him from leaving the Hall: "More than being held back, the door was closed, and because there were people there I decided to wait", he replies. He re-clarifies that he was not involved whatsoever in blocking the doors, noting that certain media outlets had made it seem like he as involved - something which he categorically denies.
4.09pm: Sciberras is questioned about his description of the environment in Castille as "hostile". He clarifies that this was not coming from the journalists, but noted that his remark was to illustrate that the environment was not proper for the Minister's daughter to be there. He states that the atmosphere was not someone normal for after a press conference, noting that he did hear shouting and insults being thrown, but does not know from who.
4.04pm: He denies having anything to do with closing journalists into the Ambassador's Hall on that night. "I had nothing to do with keeping journalists inside the room. I needed to leave like they did, but just waited like everyone else had to", he said. Judge Said Pullicino asks about why others were present and blocking the door, but Sciberras replies that he can only answer for himself and for what he was doing there, and not for others.
4.02pm: He is asked about the events of 28-29 November when journalists were held in Castille. He states that on the day, Farrugia Portelli was with her daughter at the ministry - he had taken her home, and then returned to his office in Castille. He states that when the press conference begun, he went to the Hall to follow it, and then had to "wait like everyone else" for the Prime Minister before leaving the Hall. "I had to wait like everyone else for the Prime Minister to leave. It is normal practice", he states.
3.59pm: He is asked whether he had discussed the murder with anyone like Bedingfield, but replies in the negative.
3.58pm: He states that he had never heard of the narrative that Caruana Galizia's murder had something to do with fuel-smuggling, and, answering a separate question, states that he had only heard about the Truth Project in a general manner and couldn't really comment on it.
3.56pm: Madam Justice Lofaro begins questioning Sciberras about his work with Minister Helena Dalli - who had the Equality and EU Affairs portfolio, but stops to ask whether he knows what the term misogyny means. "You know what misogyny is right?", Lofaro asks. "I don't remember... I was a communications official", is the reply. "Was there anything to try and stop misogyny?", Lofaro asks with a certain element of resignation in her tone. "I don't know", Sciberras replies.
3.53pm: Madam Justice Lofaro asks whether he had uploaded any posts on social media on the day that Caruana Galizia was killed. Sciberras does not recall. Lofaro refreshes his memory, and states that he had made two posts on his wall on 16 October 2017. One read "#stopthehate", and the other was a share of a post by Ramona Attard where she had posted about Joseph Muscat's condemnation of the murder. "Whats wrong with that?", Sciberras questions. "Why is everyone on the defensive - i am asking a question", Lofaro fires back before continuing that she is not implying that he had done anything wrong. The board, particularly Lofaro, expresses their dismay and annoyance at how all witnesses had immediately gotten defensive when questioned.
3.49pm: He states that he did not work with Glenn Bedingfield for answering Parliamentary Questions, but with David Bartolo.
3.48pm: Sciberras states that he had never answered such questions, but noted that all media questions in this regard were answered through the appropriate channels. He states that normally these statements would ultimately be approved by the head of communications within Castille - given that Julia Farrugia Portelli's secretariat fell under the umbrella of the Office of the Prime Minister - who was Kurt Farrugia.
3.47pm: The witness is asked how he would draw up answers for questions. Sciberras replies that he had never been in any meetings where Caruana Galizia had been mentioned, but Comodini Cachia points out that she is asking in a more general sense - noting that Farrugia Portelli's secretariat dealt with the controversial IIP scheme.
3.46pm: At the time of Caruana Galizia's murder, Sciberras states that he was no longer a communications official but was the head of the secretariat within Julia Farrugia Portelli's parliamentary secretariat.
3.43pm: Sciberras states that he does not recall having to draft a statement in reply to any of Caruana Galizia's writings.
3.42pm: He is asked whether any of the Ministries he worked with had mentioned Caruana Galizia. Sciberras states that the only contact he had with Caruana Galizia was on 13 May 2014 when she had phoned him to ask for information about a particular person. He states that he had asked her to send the questions in writing, which she had done, to which he then answered. He states that she had appreciated the quick answer and wrote the story. The story was about the engagement of a certain Marisa Schembri and was published on the same day, he explained.
3.38pm: Judge Mallia asks whether within any of his roles he had discussed any of Daphne Caruana Galizia's writings. The board reels through the various stories that Caruana Galizia had written - but Sciberras shakes his head. The board asks whether there had even been any discussions he was part of - but Sciberras replies in the negative again.
3.36pm: Sciberras explains that he is the head of the secretariat within the Tourism Ministry, a place he has held since 15 January. Prior to that, he was employed in the secretariat of Julia Farrugia Portelli as of June 2017 when she was appointed Parliamentary Secretary. Before that, he was a communications official with the Tourism Ministry when it was under the stewardship of Karmenu Vella, and then moved to Helena Dalli's ministry until the 2017 election was called.
3.35pm: Reuben Sciberras now takes the stand.
3.28pm: Once again, Daphne's sister Corinne Vella is testifying. Vella has testified in almost all the latest sittings, at times also presenting dossiers about the people testifying before or after her. This time, she is presenting a document about the next witness - Reuben Sciberras. It lists certain social media posts he had made, and also contains some notes about how he worked with One TV and several other ministries.
3.23pm: The board is currently discussing which witnesses will be summoned next. The Head of the DOI will be summoned on Wednesday along with Keith Arnaud, while Ian Abdilla will testify on Friday.
3.20pm: That concludes Pace's testimony.
3.19pm: Pace faces questions on the membership criteria for the IGM, and replies that each case is judged on its own merits.
3.14pm: Comodini Cachia asks whether IGM was consulted in the drafting of the new Media and Defamation Act, but Pace points out again that he wasn't in his role at the time, so he does not know.
3.13pm: Asked about Malta's downgrading in the Press Freedom Index, Pace agreed that this is worrying.
3.12pm: Comodini Cachia asks whether he ever dealt with conflicts between journalists when at IGM, and refers to an incident involving Julia Farrugia at the time she was a journalist. However, Pace states that this was long before he joined the IGM.
3.06pm: He is asked if anyone had ever flagged with them an increase in Freedom of Information requests being answered. Pace states that nobody had complained to IGM about this, but that there had been media reports in this regard. He continues that all they could do was make it public - it, or any other international organisation, could not make the government share information.
3.04pm: Pace states that there is an element of discrimination between newsrooms on the part of the government. He also notes that a perennial reality that journalists face is the government failing to answer questions sent to them, and then having them cry foul when the article is published anyway.
2.58pm: He is asked whether they had conducted any research into harassment received by journalists. "Research per se, not really", he notes before adding that they had never brought together a meeting to discuss this subject. He also states that the Venice Commission had not met IGM in their fact-finding mission in Malta.
2.56pm: The board asks Pace about the issue of SLAPP - Strategic Lawsuit Against Public Participation - lawsuits, where firms would take media houses to court in overseas jurisdictions so to over-burden them with legal courts. Firms such as Pilatus Bank and Satabank have resorted to these lawsuits in the past against local media houses. Pace states that they had asked for a solution for this, but that their financial resources to take the matter up legally were too limited.
2.52pm: Pace is asked about statements the IGM had issued where the institute had said that journalists are not afforded enough protection. He says that there have been a number of discussions with the government, but beyond statements, the IGM is yet to submit official proposals to deal with journalist's protection. Caruana Galizia family lawyer Therese Comodini Cachia points out that those journalists who need protection most are not IGM members.
2.49pm: Asked whether there were any reports of threats and harassment of journalists, Pace states that there haven't been any as of late. Pace however explains that on the incident inside Castille in November, where journalists were locked into the Ambassador's Hall after a late-night press conference, IGM had submitted a judicial protest.
2.45pm: Pace explains that the DOI currently holds the register of journalists at the moment, in spite of previous plans to put this register in the hands of IGM. IGM issues its own press cards, but these never had any legal standing, Pace explains. He continues that he agrees with the notion that press cards should be issued by IGM, but notes that there should be a structure for this as IGM does not have sufficient funds to administer it.
2.42pm: Madam Justice Lofaro asks about whether there is any discrimination in the granting of access cards, but Pace says that that falls under the cap of the DOI and their procedures.
2.41pm: Pace explains that the IGM is not a government entity, but was in dialogue with the authorities on a number of issues, such as the cards issued by the Department of Information - namely when they were changed from Press Cards to Access Cards.
2.40pm: Pace was elected in July 2018 and remains chair as an interim until a new person is appointed, even though he is no longer working as a journalist with MaltaToday. IGM will have an AGM next month, when he will leave the post.
2.37pm: Yannick Pace, the President of the Institute of Maltese Journalists (IGM), will take the stand first.
2.36pm: A declaration is read by the board, in which Judge Michael Mallia states that the board may summon Foreign Affairs Minister Evarist Bartolo to testify after his interview with DW's Tim Sebastian. Judge Mallia also asks for a copy of the interview to be submitted in the acts of proceedings. The declaration came after a request by one of the family's lawyers, Jason Azzopardi.
2.34pm: The judges are in the courtroom.