Convicted hitmen Alfred and George Degiorgio on Wednesday directly implicated former OPM chief of staff Keith Schembri and former minister Chris Cardona in the plot to assassinate Daphne Caruana Galizia.

The journalist, a columnist with The Malta Independent, was killed in a car bomb on 16 October, 2017.

The Degiorgio brothers' allegations came during another dramatic sitting in the trial by jury of businessman Yorgen Fenech, although they offered starkly different approaches in the witness box.

Alfred Degiorgio repeatedly refused to answer virtually every question put to him, while George Degiorgio, after initially refusing to testify, offered more details.

The morning session was marked by repeated confrontations between the witnesses, lawyers and the court, with Alfred Degiorgio being re-arrested for contempt after refusing to testify and George Degiorgio later being fined following an angry exchange with the prosecution.

Before questioning even began, Alfred Degiorgio attempted to mention Keith Schembri, Chris Cardona and lawyer David Gatt but was interrupted by the court.

When prosecutor Godwin Cini repeatedly asked Degiorgio to explain his role in the murder, who commissioned the killing, how much he had been paid and who else had been involved, Degiorgio refused to answer every question, insisting that because he is contesting his conviction before the European Court of Human Rights he was under no obligation to testify. Judge Grima repeatedly reminded him that his conviction was final in Malta and that he was obliged to answer questions.

At one stage, however, Degiorgio declared that if he testified he would speak about "all three of them", referring to Keith Schembri, Chris Cardona and David Gatt.

During cross-examination by defence lawyer Giannella de Marco, Alfred Degiorgio made his clearest statement of the morning.

"I have no doubt that Keith Schembri, Chris Cardona and David Gatt are involved," he said.

He refused to explain why he held that belief or answer any further questions about alleged telephone contacts with Gatt, middleman Melvin Theuma, the source of the murder funds or other aspects of the case.

As questioning continued, Degiorgio insisted that he feared for his family's safety if he testified, telling the court: "You don't know how dangerous these three people are."

After repeatedly refusing to comply with court orders requiring him to answer questions, Judge Grima ordered his re-arrest for contempt of court, bringing his testimony to an abrupt end.

George Degiorgio was then called to testify and initially followed his brother's approach, refusing to answer questions and telling the court that it could "take all the action you want."

He eventually responded to questions, saying that the original murder plot had begun in 2015 before stalling for two years, and said that Melvin Theuma later approached him and his brother again in 2017 claiming that he had been sent by Keith Schembri.

According to his testimony, he and his brother did not immediately accept Theuma's claim but wanted confirmation regarding who was actually behind the request.

He claimed that after confronting Cardona to establish who had sent Theuma, Cardona replied that Schembri had done so.

Pressed by the prosecution about how Schembri himself became involved, Degiorgio said he did not know.

He also testified that Cardona had already approached him in 2015, allegedly saying that Daphne Caruana Galizia "had to be killed because she is going to ruin the party."

George Degiorgio said the agreed price for the assassination was €150,000 and that he began monitoring Caruana Galizia's movements before the 2017 general election after being urged by Theuma to speed up the operation.

He maintained that he communicated through Vince Muscat rather than directly with Theuma, saying discussions took place at the potato shed in Marsa rather than over mobile phones.

The witness also accused investigators of failing to pursue information he had previously tried to provide, insisting that police "already knew who sent us."

Questioned about why he had not previously implicated Schembri during earlier proceedings, Degiorgio replied that the police had never acted on what he had told them.

The morning session ended on another confrontational note after prosecutor Cini challenged aspects of his testimony.

An increasingly agitated Degiorgio accused the prosecution of preventing him from testifying during his own jury trial and argued that investigators had ignored opportunities to hear his version of events.

As exchanges became increasingly heated, Judge Grima fined him €500 for contempt of court after he repeatedly interrupted proceedings.

"Make it €1,000 instead of €500," Degiorgio shouted back.

"I decide the figures here," Judge Grima replied before adjourning the sitting until the afternoon.

Returning for the afternoon session, Degiorgio was asked about the halted murder plot from 2015, where the hitman recalled that David Gatt had called him to ask to speak with him, and then picked him up and took him to Portomaso.

"Chris Cardona was there and said he wants me to kill Daphne." Degiorgio says he proceeded to ask who Daphne Caruana Galizia was. "David will tell you," Cardona allegedly replied.

Degiorgio testified that he did receive a deposit for the 2015 murder plot, claiming that David Gatt took him to Portomaso five days after their initial meeting, where Chris Cardona handed him €50,000 in cash.

He stated that this money was split four ways between himself, David Gatt, il-Koħħu, and Jamie Vella, with €10,000 set aside for expenses. Degiorgio added that after they began surveilling Daphne's home, they stopped due to a police patrol, but after he complained to Gatt, Cardona visited the potato shed and assured them, "You can continue, police won't be passing from there anymore."

When asked who gave the order for the police patrols to stop, Degiorgio replied that he presumed Cardona had spoken to the police commissioner. When asked by the prosecution to identify the commissioner at the time, Degiorgio stated he was not sure but thought it was Lawrence Cutajar.

The police commissioner in 2015 was Michael Cassar, who has consistently denied any involvement in the murder plot.

The plot was halted on the instructions of David Gatt, Degiorgio testifies. "We knew where we were going to kill her... then David Gatt came and told us to stop everything because an election was coming, some early election."

This was in 2015 - the general election was not called before May 2017.

Degiorgio said that the original plan was to stop Daphne Caruana Galizia on the road and shoot her. Gatt was meant to provide the rifle, Degiorgio said.

When the 2015 plot was called off, David Gatt told him to keep the deposit money and promised to resolve the situation.

He noted that no one else approached them about the plan until Melvin Theuma appeared in 2017.

When questioning switched back to the 2017, Degiorgio again said that he would not answer questions about the plot.

He did, however, say that Melvin Theuma provided information while they were in prison regarding bail, specifically telling them to contact Keith Schembri and Chris Cardona to secure it, a claim he said was echoed by David Gatt.

Degiorgio concluded by repeating the claim that Melvin Theuma was sent to them by Keith Schembri, and adds that this is why Theuma eventually got a pardon.

Degiorgio was altogether more open when he was cross-examined by Fenech's defence.

He was first asked asking about a promise that was allegedly made for the hitmen to be allowed a container's worth of contraband cigarettes from the Freeport. Degiorgio said that this came from Cardona, and that in fact the then-Economy Ministry had promised them two containers of contraband cigarettes and a fuel station in Xemxija.

He was told of Vince Muscat's claim that he never got any money from the 2015 plot, but Degiorgio denies this, and says that Muscat went "straight to the casino to gamble them away."

He also said that Melvin Theuma had told the hitmen that Keith Schembri was the man behind the 2017 murder plot.

Asked who tipped them off about the police raids on the potato shed, and he replied that it was Melvin Theuma.  The defence however suggested that it was actually David Gatt who told them of that date, and Theuma had told them about the day after. Degiorgio agreed.

The defence referred to Vince Muscat's testimony that he was advised by Degiorgio and his brother to "walk into court with your head held high, to show them we have powerful people behind us" and asks where that advice came from.

Degiorgio replies that it came from Theuma "because we had Cardona and Schembri helping us."

The defence referred to Vince Muscat's testimony that he was advised by Degiorgio and his brother to "walk into court with your head held high, to show them we have powerful people behind us" and asks where that advice came from.

Degiorgio replies that it came from Theuma "because we had Cardona and Schembri helping us."

Such was Degiorgio's openness, that the prosecution asked why he had answered questions from the defence, but not from the prosecution - to which Degiorgio replied that he had originally intended to say that he wasn't going to be answering questions from the prosecution.