The trial by jury of businessman Yorgen Fenech has entered its 30th day, with the prosecution expected to continue calling witnesses before Madam Justice Edwina Grima.

Monday’s sitting saw the testimony of Matthew Caruana Galizia, one of Daphne’s sons and the person who runs the Daphne Caruana Galizia Foundation.  He shared details about his mother’s investigations and recounted the horror of being the first person on the scene in the seconds after the car bomb that killed his mother detonated..

More witnesses are expected to testify as proceedings resume Tuesday morning.

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.

Judge Edwina Grima is presiding.

Please refresh the page for updates

09:47: Forensic Laboratory sergeant Karl Micallef testifies next about fingerprints that he examined in 2019.

He speaks of how, using chemical enhancement techniques, forensic officers identified and lifted 70 fingerprints from the documents. He subsequently compiled a forensic report detailing the findings.

The next witness, though, is stuck in traffic and has not arrived at the law courts.  An unimpressed Judge Edwina Grima orders the court to pause its proceedings until 10am so that the witness may arrive.

09:40: Chatzantoniou testifies that he carried out more than 500 examinations each year and that his examination produced a negative result, meaning he found no evidence indicating these documents had been falsified.

He says that his assessment was relatively quick because there were no obvious signs that the documents were fakes, but declines to explain the exact methodology as it is confidential.

During cross-examination, the defence asks whether comparing the questioned documents with the printer used to produce them would have assisted his analysis.

The expert replies while such a comparison was not essential, it would have been helpful.

Responding to questions from the jurors, he replies he had not been provided with a handwriting sample for comparison and added handwriting analysis did not fall within his area of expertise.

"I am not a handwriting expert, so it was not my concern," he told the court.

09:20: Today’s first witness is Ioannis Chatzantoniou, a Europol officer who worked in the organisation’s forensics department.

He testifies that his job was to examine scans of documents and to determine the possibility of whether they were falsified or whether they were scans of the originals.

09:00: Good morning and welcome to today's court-room live blog as the trial against Yorgen Fenech enters its 30th day