Yorgen Fenech's jury trial continues on Friday after former OPM chief of staff Keith Schembri concluded three consecutive days on the witness stand, during which he spent hours being cross-examined by the defence over allegations linking him to the assassination of Daphne Caruana Galizia and his alleged involvement in events surrounding the murder.
Yorgen Fenech, a businessman, has pleaded not guilty to two principal charges: complicity in the wilful homicide of Daphne Caruana Galizia and criminal association to commit the murder.
Caruana Galizia, a columnist with The Malta Independent, was killed in a car bomb on 16 October, 2017.
Five men have already been convicted in connection with Caruana Galizia's assassination. Vince Muscat admitted his role in the murder in 2021 and was sentenced to 15 years' imprisonment. Alfred and George Degiorgio each received 40-year prison sentences after pleading guilty in 2022, while Robert Agius and Jamie Vella were sentenced to life imprisonment in 2025 for supplying the bomb used in the attack.
The prosecution is being led by Attorney General lawyers Godwin Cini, Anthony Vella and Danika Vella, assisted by Assistant Commissioner Keith Arnaud and Inspector Kurt Zahra. Fenech is represented by lawyers Charles Mercieca, Gianella Demarco and Gianluca Caruana Curran, while lawyers Therese Comodini Cachia and Jason Azzopardi are appearing parte civile on behalf of the Caruana Galizia family.
10:24 During the searches of Yorgen Fenech, his captain, his yacht, his penthouse, and two Tumas Group offices at Portomaso, Sergeant Kevin Pulis testified that officers seized several items from the yacht, including a MacBook wrapped in clingfilm, an internet key, approximately 7,000 euros in cash, and a black iPhone belonging to Fenech.
10:19 Sergeant Kevin Pulis, a 20-year veteran of the police corps, took the witness stand to recount the arrest of Yorgen Fenech. He testified that on November 19, 2019, Assistant Commissioner Keith Arnaud briefed him and instructed him to monitor airports as part of a plan to arrest Fenech. The following morning on November 20, Arnaud informed Pulis that Fenech was leaving the port aboard his yacht, the Gio, prompting Pulis to alert the Portomaso marina and Armed Forces of Malta (AFM) soldiers. Pulis stated that he went to the marina holding Fenech's arrest warrant, found Fenech seated on the boat alongside the captain, read him his rights, and handed him the warrant. Around 8:00am, Europol experts and a scene-of-the-crime officer arrived at the location.
10:06 Defence lawyer Giannella De Marco begins her cross-examination of Sergeant Gary Scerri by focusing on his testimony about the operation at Keith Schembri's residence.
She asks why Scerri had not mentioned the presence of workers at the property during his testimony at the compilation of evidence.
Scerri replies that his evidence at the time had been limited to the "Leaks" investigation.
De Marco points out that Scerri raised the issue of the workers during today's testimony without being asked about it and suggests he is trying to "patch up" his evidence.
Scerri rejects the allegation, replying: "Not at all. I have no reason to patch up anything."
The defence also questions Scerri about whether he remained in the police van during what he had described as an operation rather than a search, which he denies.
Asked whether investigators Keith Arnaud and Kurt Zahra had already seized any items before he entered the residence, Scerri says he does not know. He adds that Arnaud never informed him that any material had already been recovered from the property.
The defence concludes its cross-examination of Scerri.
10:00 The court hears that in 2021, after Vince Muscat, known as Il-Koħħu, admitted to police that he had been involved in the case, investigators visited several locations he identified as part of the ongoing investigation.
Among them was the garage where the bomb used in the assassination had allegedly been stored.
9:52 Under questioning from the prosecution, Sergeant Gary Scerri is asked to explain how the operation at Keith Schembri's residence was carried out.
Madam Justice Edwina Grima intervenes, asking the witness to first outline how police searches are normally conducted.
Scerri tells the court that, in this instance, the operation was not a conventional search but was instead aimed at recovering specific items on the instructions of lead investigator Keith Arnaud.
He says Keith Schembri himself identified the items to be collected by police.
The witness adds that this was not unusual, explaining that during his career he has dealt with other investigations in which suspects themselves indicated the location of items sought by investigators.
9:44 Scerri tells the court that Keith Schembri was arrested in the early hours of the morning by investigators Keith Arnaud and Kurt Zahra.
He says that at around 2pm, other police officers and himself carried out a search of Schembri's residence.
Scerri testifies that the search was conducted in the presence of Schembri's lawyers, who, to the best of his knowledge, had requested to accompany the police during the operation.
He says those present at the residence also included Schembri's wife, an elderly couple, Neville Gafà and several workers.
9:42 Scerri testified that he was involved in the police search of Keith Schembri's Mellieħa residence, which was ordered by Assistant Commissioner Keith Arnaud. Scerri was instructed to escort Schembri to Mellieħa at around 2pm in an unmarked police vehicle - used by the plainclothes officers to avoid alerting journalists lingering outside police headquarters - to collect uncollected electronic devices. The search was attended by Scerri, two other police sergeants, Schembri's lawyers Edward Gatt and Mark Vassallo, and two scene-of-the-crime officers who had testified earlier in the week. Additionally, Scerri was tasked with checking surrounding buildings near the villa to gather any relevant CCTV footage.
9:38 Scerri tells jurors he was present during the arrests of George and Alfred Degiorgio and Vince Muscat at the potato shed in Marsa, where he also carried out searches of the premises, the suspects' vehicles and an apartment in St Paul's Bay.
Scerri clarifies that he had no direct role in the suspects' interrogations.
Turning to events on 23 November 2019, Scerri recounts escorting Yorgen Fenech to Mater Dei Hospital after Fenech's doctor, Adrian Vella, requested that he be taken there urgently while he was under arrest in the police lock-up.
9:34 Police sergeant Gary Scerri from the homicide squad takes the witness stand as the first witness on day 27 of the trial, detailing his involvement in the Daphne Caruana Galizia murder investigation from day one, which ranged from retrieving CCTV and conducting fieldwork with Europol experts to participating in the raids that led to the arrest of the hitmen. Scerri also provided details regarding Yorgen Fenech's hospitalisation following his arrest, noting that Dr Adrian Vella ordered Fenech to be taken to Mater Dei Hospital and requested medicine be administered, after which Fenech could not continue giving his police statement due to anaesthetic.
9:08 As day 27 of the Yorgen Fenech trial gets underway at the Valletta law courts, the court addressed a uniquely Maltese disruption by announcing that break times may be shifted due to nearby fireworks. Proceedings began with both prosecutors and defence lawyers successfully requesting sections of a document to be redacted for irrelevant personal information and professional relationship details
Judge Edwina Grima is presiding.
Please refresh for updates