Assistant police commissioner Ian Abdilla told the board of inquiry into the Daphne Caruana Galizia assassination that he was prepared to speak on the police investigations into 17 Black, but he would so so behind closed doors.

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 updates

11.16am: Owing to the current situation with regards to Coronavirus - with three new cases being confirmed today - an agreement is reached for next week's sittings to be cancelled.

11.15am: And with those details, the sitting will now continue behind closed doors.

11.14am: Asked when this happened, Abdilla states that it was in the week following when the Times of Malta published their story tying Fenech to 17 Black.

11.12am: "Did Valletta tell you how he knew that Fenech was sick?", Azzopardi asks. "No", Abdilla replies. Azzopardi replies whether Abdilla was aware of the friendship between Valletta and Fenech, to which Abdilla replies "Absolutely not".

11.10am: Both Azzopardi and the board cannot understand why Abdilla, who was accompanied by Superintendent Ray Aquilina in the car for this meeting, had decided to go to Portomaso to speak to Fenech, instead of bringing him to the depot. Abdilla states that the suggestion to go to Fenech's office had come from Valletta.

11.07am: Azzopardi asks about a meeting which was to take place between Abdilla and Yorgen Fenech at the latter's Portomaso's office, and which did not take place, after Reuters revealed that 17 Black belonged to Fenech. "Who phoned you to tell you that this meeting would not take place?", Azzopardi asks. "Silvio Valletta phoned me and told me that he was sick", Abdilla replies. "That who was sick?", Madam Justice Lofaro asks - "Fenech, of course!", Azzopardi replies. Abdilla does not contest that.

11.05am: Azzopardi now turns his questions to investigative procedures, referring to the request put forward by civil society for an inquiry into the sale of three hospitals to Vitals Global Healthcare, asking whether the Attorney General had spoken to it about him about it. "I didn't even know about it", Abdilla states.

11am: "I am one of the investigators into 17 Black and I can explain to you all the steps we took, but behind closed doors", Abdilla tells the board.

10.59am: Azzopardi asks about the low number of prosecutions by the Economic Crimes Unit since 2015, and asks whether Abdilla feels that this was his responsibility. Abdilla states that it was the investigator's prerogative on whether to proceed with specific cases.

10.53am: He recalls that he was alone with Schembri in the meetings. He says that there wasn't much time between the two meetings. Azzopardi asks whether following these meetings Schembri had communicated with him through Whatsapp. Abdilla replies that he does not think so.

10.51am: Azzopardi asks whether Abdilla had any communication with Keith Schembri, former OPM chief of staff. "I met him twice", Abdilla says. He says that he had met Schembri after the two FIAU reports had been leaked in 2017 - Schembri had requested his presence for that meeting. Abdilla explains that he did not know what the nature of the meeting was to be. It was a 10 minute meeting where Schembri asked what he thought about the investigations - and Abdilla told him to seek legal advice. "These were investigations which he was personally involved in", Judge Said Pullicino states. "Yes", Abdilla replies.

10.42am: Sadr went home with the suitcase, he says. "We searched the suitcase", he expains. "That same night?", Madam Justice Lofaro asks. "The day after", Abdilla replies. He states that there were no legal grounds at the time to arrest Ali Sadr.

10.39am: Said Pullicino asks about the Pilatus Bank luggage incident, when the Bank's owner Ali Sadr was spotted leaving the bank with a suitcase the night Caruana Galizia made her Egrant revelations. Abdilla says that they had "exhausted all avenues" in investigating this as part of the Egrant inquiry. He says that there is continuous CCTV footage of the suitcase while it was at the bank, and that Sadr had only removed a notebook and phone charger, and then put it back. There is a whole chapter in the Egrant inquiry on this subject, he says.

10.37am: Abdilla says that he will answer behind closed doors. Comodini Cachia says that she is trying to understand whether he should testify behind closed doors even about whether they had received a specific report or not. She now asks how many Europol joint investigations they started and partook in, and whether any of them related to reports from 2013 to today. Abdilla again states that he would like to answer that behind closed doors, much to Comodini Cachia's exasperation.

10.34am: "I don't want to be difficult, but I have problems with this exemption as well", Abdilla tells the board, citing the Money Laundering Act and saying that only the FIAU's Director Kenneth Farrugia can exempt him. "Kenneth Farrugia was exempted and testified here as well", Comodini Cachia points out.

10.33am: Comodini Cachia wants to ask further questions, and begins by asking whether he had received an FIAU report on Keith Schembri. Abdilla again points out that he is bound by secrecy. The board exempts Abdilla from professional secrecy which regards his work with the FIAU.

10.32am: He explains that as FIAU Liaison Officer he would physically pick any report up himself, and open the investigation himself. He would rarely advise the Police Commissioner of such files.

10.31am: Judge Said Pullicino asks about files on any allegations which hit members of the public administration. Abdilla points out that there were allegations, but that he is tied to secrecy by the FIAU. Madam Justice Lofaro sighs. Abdilla says that he prefers to respond to such questions behind closed doors.

10.28am: Comodini Cachia asks whether Valletta would know about any files which he, as Economic Crimes Head, would open. Abdilla replies that technically yes that would be the case, although he had rarely directly advised Valletta about opening specific files.

10.24am: Judge Said Pullicino points out that Abdilla must be prepared to answer questions, even related to FIAU reports and the Unit's response to them. That remark brings Abdilla's lawyer to life who once again points out that Abdilla cannot testify about ongoing proceedings. The board raps back, saying that they have the power to ask for information on specific information.

10.20am: Therese Comodini Cachia asks whether, when the Unit answered directly to Silvio Valletta when he was Assistant Commissioner leading the CID, Valletta was also a board member of the FIAU. Abdilla pauses, and eventually states that he thinks this was the case.

10.14am: Asked about in-house training, Abdilla states that it was extremely rare for them to reject opportunities they had for training overseas.

10.13am: Madam Justice Lofaro asks whether they started increasing after the Panama Papers emerged. Abdilla replies that while Michael Cassar was Commissioner, he had added to their complement before left midway through 2016. Police Commissioner Lawrence Cutajar also added to that complement, while Abdilla notes that the current interim Police Commissioner Carmelo Magri has "understood the need even more" and added much more resources to the unit.

10.11am: Abdilla again says that he is under the impression that there were around 10 inspectors, with a total of 40 people in the Unit at the time in 2013.

10.08am: Abdilla doesn't seem able to recall the exact number of people under his responsibility when he first took the Unit over. He says that there must have been between 9 and 10 inspectors overall, but he cannot give an exact number. "We make so many changes in the police force that it is difficult to give an exact number in a specific period of time", he says.

10.03am: Judge Said Pullicino asks who was responsible for the Unit in 2013. Abdilla states that before the PN legislature ended, Michael Cassar led the Unit. He was then moved to head the Secret Service, and replaced by Antoine Casha, followed by Paul Vassallo who was initially Superintendent.

10am: There should have been 36 in the Unit in 2013 - but he notes that they were probably fewer people - probably around 25.

9.58am: The board now asks what the complement of the Unit was in 2013. Abdilla notes that at that point he was still an Inspector. He says that if he is not mistaken they were roughly six or seven inspectors in economic crimes and one or two in money laundering.

9.57am: "In my sector there is a plan", Abdilla says. He notes that the plan was revised after the Moneyval recommendations as it was "not ambitious enough". The money laundering unit for instance has to rise from its current level of 4 investigators, to 22 investigators.

9.56am: Madam Justice Lofaro notes that still there seems to be a relative lack of resources, Abdilla however points out that any police force in the world lacks resources and that these are issues which are being faced across the world.

9.55am: Asked whether he had requested these resources, Abdilla explains that he had been asked to come up with a reform plan in 2016 for the Unit. A factor in that was the limited space they had in the Police HQ, something which will be solved as the Unit will be moved to a completely new building with a capacity of 120 workers. The building will have training facilities, analysis facilities, and interrogation rooms amongst others.

9.53am: Asked whether these personnel are trained, Abdilla explains that the choice of personnel was made by the police commissioner, depending on their qualifications. He said that some 20 people in the last year earned a diploma level qualification in fighting money laundering and financial crime, and noted that superintendents require a qualification to take the role - there are lawyers, people qualified with Masters-level degrees in Organised Criminality, and others qualified through ACCA.

9.52am: The Economic Crimes Unit, which he now heads, is made up of 60 people, he explains. He has seven inspectors focused on economic crimes and another four on money laundering. There are also two civilian financial analysts and a small unit on blockchain analysis is also in the pipeline, he explains.

9.51am: Abdilla explains that he joined the Police in 2001 after graduating as an accountant, and entered the Economic Crimes Unit. He was promoted to Superintendent in 2015, and in July 2018 he was promoted to Assistant Commissioner.

9.50am: Ian Abdilla now takes the stand. Except, in unusual circumstances, the witness stand itself has been set aside. Abdilla is seated behind a microphone.

9.48am: As has become usual practice, Corinne Vella - Daphne's sister - has submitted a dossier of open source information to the board. It includes details on stories which Daphne Caruana Galizia was working, including one involving John Dalli and his daughters.

9.45am: A lawyer for Abdilla has argued that Abdilla's testimony should be heard behind closed doors. The board says that part of it will, but general questions will - like other witnesses - be heard in open court.

9.42am: The judges walk in.

9.38am: The courtroom is open. People entering the courtroom had their temperature taken as a precaution against Coronavirus.