The compilation of evidence against brothers Adrian and Robert Agius, known as Tal-Maksar, and their associates Jamie Vella and George Degiorgio continues this morning. 

Robert Agius and Jamie Vella are charged with supplying the bomb that killed Daphne Caruana Galizia in October 2017.

Adrian Agius is charged with commissioning the murder of lawyer Carmel Chircop in 2015. Vella and Degiorgio are charged with executing Chircop’s assassination in a garage complex in Birkirkara.

Degiorgio is currently undergoing separate procedures for his involvement in the Caruana Galizia murder.

The Agius brothers and Vella had long been suspected of having been the bomb suppliers in the Caruana Galizia murder case. They had been arrested in December 2017 but later released with no charge.

They were arrested back in May on the same day that Vince Muscat, known as il-Koħħu, admitted his involvement in the Caruana Galizia murder and was sentenced to 15 years in prison following a plea bargain agreement.

 

10:40 The case will continue on 14 July at 9am.

10:40 Witness steps off the stand. The session is finished for today.

10:39 The witness was one of the first to testify in the inquiry, giving her version to the magistrate the next day.

10:37 She had met an older man who was also driving nearby, and both were in shock. They had called the police, she says.

10:35 Charlene Abela takes the stand. She tells the court that on 16 Oct 2017, she had been going to Bidnija towards Mosta and that there was a large scale incident where a car came out of a side road very fast. "I was behind the car. It was dark coloured," the witness recalls. "I saw a small explosion like a spark under the car."

10:30 Court is now back in session.

09:35 The sitting is postponed for 30 min until the next witnesses arrive. 

09:32 The lawyers are now bickering about the relevance of this testimony. 

09:31 Caruana says he had been spoken to about a top-up voucher he had sold to Degiorgio. 

09:30 "I am a friend of George [Degiorgio] ic-Ciniz," Caruana says. The search was because of the Caruana Galizia. 

09:27 Miguel Caruana takes the stand. The police had searched his home and taken half a van full of items, most of them belonging to his children, he says. He hadn't seen them since. 

09:26 Superintendent Keith Arnaud enters the courtroom. 

09:25 Court-appointed expert lawyer Veronica Spiteri testifies next, presenting transcripts of testimony to the court. 

09:23 The accused have been whispering in each other's ears all through the sitting. 

09:23 The former assistant commissioner steps off the stand. 

09:22 He had spoken to Matthew Caruana Galizia. He was very agitated, and police were trying to calm him down. 

09:19 Cross-examined by AG lawyer George Camilleri, Sammut says the body in the car was not identifiable. 

09:18 Sammut says his involvement in the case was limited to stationing officers at strategic points in the field to preserve the evidence. 

09:17 Soon after, a man came down the road saying that his mother was in the car. He was recognised as Matthew Caruana Galizia, and so it was deduced that the victim was Daphne Caruana Galizia. 

09:16 Sammut says this did not work; Civil Protection was then called.

09:15 He recounts the now-familiar details. "My first reaction was to open the door of the car and put out the fire with the fire extinguisher in our car."  09:14 In October 2017, he was informed through a police report that a car had exploded in Bidnija. Sammut had gone to the scene. 

09:13 Sammut is no longer part of the police force but is a prosecutor delegated from Europe

09:12 Assistant Commissioner Martin Sammut takes the stand next.

09:12 Inspector Malcolm Bondin takes the stand first and recounts Adrian Agius' arrest. 

09:11 Magistrate Caroline Farrugia Frendo emerges from chambers and the sitting begins. 

09:01 Good morning.