The public inquiry into the murder of Daphne Caruana Galizia will continue on Wednesday.
During the previous sitting on Monday, acting police chief Carmelo Magri testified that nothing but Silvio Valletta's call logs were collected when the former deputy police commissioner's name cropped up during the Daphne Caruana Galizia murder compilation.
The public inquiry returned after a three-month lull because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
It is tasked with, among other things, determining whether the State did all it could to prevent the murder from happening.
The inquiry is led by retired judge Michael Mallia, former chief justice Joseph Said Pullicino and Judge Abigail Lofaro.
Testifying today is Melvin Theuma, the middleman who was given a presidential pardon to reveal details about the plot.
Three men - Alfred and George Degiorgio, and Vince Muscat - are charged with the murder, while Yorgen Fenech is charged with complicity in planning the assassination.
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11:38 The sitting afterwards will be on Wednesday 24 June, at 9:30am, when assistant police commissioner Ian Abdilla is expected to testify.
11:38 The next sitting takes place on Friday 19 June, where acting police commissioner Carmelo Magri will continue his testimony. A technical expert on hacking will also be summoned
11:32 The parties are now discussing what witnesses to summon in the next sitting.
11:32 Theuma leaves the stand and exits the courtroom, accompanied by his bodyguards.
11:31 Judge Mallia asks him how his conscience feels. “Last Monday, I went to Mgr Deguara to confess and take Holy Communion. I cannot stay quiet. I'm still hurt to this day.”
11:30 Theuma: “Yorgen would say that all Daphne Caruana Galizia had were 4,000 people behind her, but I would be terrified every time a protest would be held.”
11:29 Lawyer Therese Comodini Cachia suggests that he had felt obliged to do the crime because he was the deprived kid from Marsa who was taken in by this man and given everything. “Exactly, exactly,” sobs the witness.
11:28 Theuma: "Once he told my partner that I would be ready to do anything he tells me (Dak li nqabbdu jagħmel, jagħmlu)."
11:27 “One day, I felt I lost my life,” Theuma says, choking back tears. “Daphne Caruana Galizia lost her life too,” Azzopardi interjects. “U jien daqsha,” Theuma responds.
11:26 Theuma sidesteps a suggestion by Azzopardi that he used to "adore" Fenech, or felt obliged to him.
11:25 Theuma: "Kelli nobdih (I had to obey him). There was the taxi, he'd take me abroad, I used to tell him everything… only today do I know what it involves."
11:24 Jason Azzopardi confronts him with testimony before other courts. Why had he killed a woman and a mother?
11:21 Theuma recounts how on Saturday 3 June, 2017, which was election day, Yorgen Fenech had called him and asked him: “Inti titla’ toqgħodlu mal-bieb lil Keith Schembri għax dak ma jafdax lil kulħadd? (Will you go and guard Keith Schembri’s house because he does not trust everyone?)” Theuma says that he didn't do it because he had to go to Gozo.
11:19 Azzopardi asks whether Alfred Degiorgio, known as il-Fulu, had shown him that they had information on when they would be raided in December 2017. "No, I told him. I got that information from Yorgen Fenech," Theuma replies.
11:17 Theuma: "Because Keith Schembri would get him the information and he wouldn't be uncovered."
11:16 Lawyer Jason Azzopardi is now cross-examining the witness. He asks about the importance of a newspaper survey in October 2018, which showed Labour were 80,000 votes ahead.
11:14 Theuma says that he would take Yorgen Fenech to his private jet. “Fenech would go to Dubai, Bangladesh, Rome, France, Azerbaijan… I took him to the airport often.”
11:13 Lawyer Therese Comodini Cachia, who is representing the Caruana Galizia family, asks where he heard the information on Cardona from. "From the office of Johann Cremona, in his garage," Theuma says.
11:12 Witness is saying that he heard a lot of things from people and that Cardona's involvement was one of them.
11:11 The judges point out that ‘jikxfu’ and ‘iwaħħlu fih’ have different meanings. Theuma replies: "Le, jikxfuh, qal Mario Degiorgio."
11:09 Theuma says that Mario Degiorgio, a brother to the Degiorgios accused of murdering Caruana Galizia, once told him that lawyer David Gatt had threatened to kill his brothers if they "uncover Cardona (jikxfu lil Cardona)".
11:08 Theuma: "Yorgen Fenech once told me that the prison guards had recorded the Degiorgios as saying that they were ready to blame Cardona for the murder."
11:02 The witness says that after his interrogation and the compilation of evidence he was of the belief that only Yorgen Fenech was involved in the murder.
11:00 Theuma: "What I can say, under oath and under my pardon is that Yorgen Fenech gave me €150,000 for the murder of Daphne Caruana Galizia."
10:59 He is asked whether he ever heard of anyone else involved in the murder, other businessmen.
10:59 Theuma: "As far as I know, under oath, only Yorgen Fenech is involved. Only he gave me money. Johann had said that Cardona paid €350,000 to the Degiorgios. But only Yorgen paid me."
10:57 Asked about former minister Chris Cardona, Theuma says he never saw him at the potato shed. He adds that Yorgen Fenech told him to say that the money was given to him by Cardona. "To calm me down they would always bring up Cardona… Jien Yorgen ta’ Tumas biss tani l-flus."
10:56 Theuma says that it was in front of Johann and Kenneth Camilleri (a former security detail with the prime minister and close friend of Keith Schembri) that he had exploded and said that the person who commissioned the murder was Yorgen Fenech. Theuma recalls that he told the pair that it was Fenech who paid him for the murder. The outburst came after Johann had claimed that Theuma’s number was found by the police in connection with the murder.
10:54 Theuma says he wanted to spill the beans so much so that Inspector Keith Arnaud had to stop him until his lawyer could be brought over. Theuma had been arrested on a money laundering investigation but when police nabbed him, he thought it was because of the murder and immediately informed them of the recordings.
10:52 Theuma is asked whether Johann Cremona, a business associate of Yorgen Fenech, knew of Fenech’s involvement in the murder. “U żgur li kien jaf Johann. Wara l-qtil tliet darbiet iltqajna biex jipprova jikkalmani.” (Of course he knew. After the murder we met three times for him to calm me down).
10:49 Theuma says that Johann Cremona and Yorgen Fenech had lied to him about raids on his property. Theuma had also been promised a written list of questions from the police, that he'd only be arrested for 48 hours and leave, that he wouldn't be arrested over the murder.
10:47 Theuma says he now lives under 24-hour police protection.
10:47 Asked whether Yorgen Fenech called Keith Schembri after his arrest, Theuma says he could not have known since he was also under arrest at the time.
10:46 Theuma says he cannot recall whether Yorgen had told Keith about his role in the murder after the arrest of the Degiorgios in December 2017 or before. "I have no idea," he says, but points out that it is on the tapes.
10:40 Theuma says that he only met Keith Schembri twice.
10:39 Theuma recalls Fenech’s words: ‘Jekk inkunu sodi jiena u inti jbusulna l-bajd. Jekk nirrokkaw ikollna problema kbira. (‘If we are strong together they can kiss our balls. If we break down we will have big problems.’). The context of this was the conversation involving the Electrogas power station.
10:36 Asked whether Yorgen had spoken to him about the Electrogas power station tender, Theuma repeats what Fenech had said: ‘I know I did everything exactly right about the power station, but I'm feeling trapped about the murder.’
10:34 Asked about his phantom job with the government, he says he didn't even know what the role was as he never went to work.
10:33 The board asks whether Yorgen Fenech had ever helped Keith Schembri on lands, factories and other business concerns. "I don't know anything about that," Theuma replies.
10:32 Theuma says that Yorgen had also told him the police knew about the message, which triggered the bomb and was also informed of the raids on the potato shed.
10:31 Theuma is asked whether Valletta had known who organised Caruana Galizia’s murder. "I don't know. What I know is that he would pass on information," Theuma replies.
10:30 Theuma says that Silvio Valletta and Keith Schembri would pass on information to Yorgen Fenech. “Yorgen Fenech would trust Schembri more than Valletta.”
10:30 Theuma explains that Fenech's election lottery win was on an illegal lottery organised by Theuma himself.
10:28 On 17 Black, Theuma says that Yorgen told him Nationalist MEP David Casa had picked on him. "He told me that he had offered money to the PN not to elect David Casa [ostensibly in the European Parliament election]. But i never asked him what was wrong about 17 Black.”
10:26 Asked about Daphne Caruana Galizia's writing: “From 2017 I became fixated on the news… I never read Daphne’s blog.”
10:24 Asked whether he had any run-ins with the court, Theuma says that once he had a case before Lofaro [ostensibly Abigail Lofaro, who is now a judge and a member of the Caruana Galizia inquiry board] about money laundering. Another time he had an argument with his partner's husband.
10:22 Theuma recounts how on one occasion he had been delivering bread to Yorgen's farmhouse and had seen then deputy police commissioner Silvio Valletta peeking from behind a door. He recognised Valletta from the TV.
10:20 Theuma: “One time Yorgen Fenech had asked me to take him to the airport and he told me that he had just been to a party at Girgenti with Joseph Muscat. I honestly don't know how to get to Girgenti."
10:19 He is asked whether he ever took Yorgen Fenech to Girgenti, the prime minister’s official residence.
10:18 Theuma says he never took Yorgen to Joseph Muscat's house.
10:17 Theuma now speaks of the relationship between Yorgen Fenech and Keith Schembri. “When abroad Yorgen Fenech would call Keith Schembri often and after the murder this was more frequent. One time Keith Schembri was frying a rabbit and sent Yorgen a picture of it, which he then showed to me. That's how close they were.”
10:15 Theuma is now talking about the Castille interview in which he was given a government job. He recounts how another time he had gone there to speak to someone about compliance on a wall in his field.
10:14 Theuma: “Yes. This had happened before the murder instructions.” After that he had never taken Yorgen Fenech to Castille.
10:14 The board asks him whether he had ever given Fenech a lift to Castille.
10:12 Theuma says that about two weeks later he went to pick up Fenech from the airport. Yorgen opened his briefcase and gave him an envelope with €150,000, telling him it’s for the murder.
10:10 Theuma had brought Fenech €300,000 in winnings on the election bet.
10:10 Theuma says that he thought Yorgen was drunk and ignored it.
10:09 Theuma says that the Sunday after Labour won the election, Yorgen called him and told him the hit was back on.
10:08 In the meantime, the election was announced and Yorgen had told Theuma to stop everything.
10:08 He says they later met to discuss specifics at Busy Bee coffee shop in Msida. The amount €150,000 was mentioned with €30,000 that had to be paid in advance.
10:06 Theuma says he never mentioned Yorgen Fenech to the Degiorgios.
10:06 Theuma describes the conversation: “Degiorgio asked what I wanted. I told him, ‘I have a person who wants to kill Daphne Caruana Galizia’. He asked me: ‘But does he pay?’.”
10:05 Theuma says that he had called Alfred Degiorgio and was told to meet him near the potato shed. He had been there before, for coffee, he adds.
10:02 Theuma continues that after the 2017 general election was announced, he found out that the Ray Fenech reason given to him by Yorgen was not true.
10:01 Theuma: “Once I gave her a lift as she had been at Portomaso and her tyres were slashed. She wanted to pay me and I had refused.”
10:01 Judge Mallia: “Didn't something tell you this would have great consequences? The normal reaction to this would be shock. You were asked to be involved in a homicide with tremendous consequences. Did you just say yes? Did you know Daphne Caruana Galizia?”
10:00 Theuma tells the inquiry that he had called Alfred Degiorgio, George’s brother, as he had once rented out a flat to them in Mosta. He explains that there is a pending investigation into this.
09:59 He recounts that they met near the Blue Elephant restaurant. Theuma recalls Yorgen telling him that he wanted to kill Daphne Caruana Galizia because she was going to spill information on his uncle, Ray. Yorgen had asked Theuman whether he knew who George iċ-Ċiniż was.
09:57 Theuma recounts how before the 2017 election, he had been at work at Portomaso. At around 4:30pm he had made a coffee and Yorgen called him up and asked to speak to him.
09:56 Theuma says he got involved in the Daphne Caruana Galizia murder out of his own free will, but felt obliged after Fenech had allotted him a permanent taxi slot at Portomaso. “I felt he was my best friend.”
09:54 Theuma: “I used to think he was my best friend, but after he got me involved in this I consider him the worst person in Malta, in the world.”
09:54 Theuma: “I knew him before the taxi, around seven years ago because he would bet on horses with me. I knew his uncle Ray as well. I get confused with dates but I've known him for more than seven years for sure.”
09:53 Theuma is asked how long he has known Yorgen Fenech for.
09:52 Judge Mallia: We know you have a presidential pardon and are obliged to tell everything. But the board warns you that you are to follow the terms of your pardon here.
09:48 Theuma is administered the oath.
09:48 Theuma is accompanied by plain-clothes security officers wherever he goes.
09:47 Jason Azzopardi is ironing out a possible recording/transcribing issue with the previous testimony of Antonovich Muscat with the board. The matter has been resolved. Melvin Theuma is summoned into the courtroom.
09:45 The judges have entered the courtroom.