Inspector Kurt Zahra resumes his evidence today after a lengthy day on the stand.

On Tuesday, the jury was taken through recordings of Yorgen Fenech's police interrogations following his arrest in November 2019.

The police interrogations had much to do with Fenech's allegations about former chief of staff Keith Schembri. Fenech claimed Schembri had given him a "script" to follow and had promised him a presidential pardon.

Fenech 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, Giannella de Marco 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.

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11:59 Franco Fenech sends his brother a message of encouragement, urging him not to bottle things up and to find someone he can talk to.

Keeping everything inside, he says, only makes a person weak and vulnerable, while small hurdles can start to look like mountains.

He tells his brother to share the load, delegate responsibilities and give himself some breathing space.

And his final message is one of reassurance: "We fight, we don't escape."

11:53 The prosecution pointed to another chat thread between Yorgen Fenech and his brother Franco, which were not previously undisclosed messages. In these texts, Yorgen instructed his brother to communicate exclusively through the encrypted app Signal and stated that he wanted to speak with his lawyer, Giannella de Marco, before leaving the country. He also told Franco to instruct the captain of their yacht to prepare the vessel for a voyage without any crew members. Additionally, Fenech discussed the maximum amount of cash he could legally carry without being intercepted or stopped by the authorities. 

11:43 Fenech then asks Uncle Ray whether he has any cash on hand. Ray offers to bring him some; he has around €70,000 "at Dione's".

Fenech says he does not need it just yet because he has some money with him - but adds that he does not want to leave his wife high and dry. He then asks his uncle to keep an eye on his children.

Ray appears to try to calm him down, telling him to stay safe.

Fenech also tells Ray that "K" had reassured him by saying: "Stay calm, nothing is going to happen."

11:40 The prosecution highlighted chat logs between Yorgen Fenech and his uncle, Ray Fenech, from the night before Yorgen's arrest. On November 18, Ray sent his nephew an article regarding a statement made by former Prime Minister Joseph Muscat about the murder, prompting Yorgen to reply that there might be developments. Ray then urged Yorgen to go to a safe place and book a flight to Paris, but Yorgen responded that no flights were available and insisted on speaking to his lawyer first. Ray subsequently advised him to check if the airport was secure by speaking to an individual referred to as "K," though Yorgen replied that escaping by boat would be the safer option. 

11:30 Court is back in session.

10:55 Court session is suspended for a short break.

10:54 Inspector Kurt Zahra tells the court that investigators had asked the Degiorgio brothers and Vince Muscat what had motivated the murder and how much they had been paid, but they declined to answer.

He then goes through their later attempts to secure presidential pardons.

Between 2021 and 2025, the three men made six requests for a presidential pardon, Zahra says.

The latest sought a pardon covering all offences committed from before 2018.

Zahra also says that on 4 March 2024, investigators spoke to George and Alfred Degiorgio to see whether they were prepared to name anyone else.

At one point, Judge Edwina Grima pulls up the defence, warning lawyers not to make comments under their breath while the witness is giving evidence.

10:53 Inspector Kurt Zahra stated that when he questioned Vince Muscat about the 2015 plot, Muscat maintained that it was entirely unrelated to the 2017 assassination. Zahra also noted that there were contradictions between what the Degiorgio brothers claimed in court and what they told police during interrogations regarding the plan, pointing out that during questioning, the brothers only named two other individuals who have since passed away.

Addressing the 2015 plot further, Zahra stated that he could only share limited details because the police investigation into the matter remains active and ongoing, confirming that former minister Chris Cardona has already been interrogated in connection with it.

10:48 Inspector Kurt Zahra recalled information provided by George Degiorgio during the inquiry, in which Degiorgio claimed he bought a bomb after receiving threats and confirmed that the only money they received for the homicide was 150,000 euros from Melvin Theuma, maintaining that he never met Yorgen Fenech. Degiorgio also alleged details of a 2015 murder plot, stating that lawyer David Gatt arranged a meeting with former minister Chris Cardona, who allegedly paid a 50,000 euro deposit to have Daphne Caruana Galizia killed. According to Degiorgio, both Keith Schembri and former Police Commissioner Lawrence Cutajar were aware of this earlier plan. However, despite sharing information regarding the 2015 plot, Degiorgio refused to provide police with any details concerning the 2017 assassination. 

10:36 When the Degiorgio brothers pleaded guilty to their role in the assassination, their legal counsel informed Assistant Commissioner Keith Arnaud that they intended to request a presidential pardon. Inspector Kurt Zahra testified that police summoned the Degiorgios in December 2024 to gather further information regarding the homicide, at which point the brothers formally requested pardons for every crime they had committed up until 2017. 

10:34 Inspector Kurt Zahra told the court that during a search of Keith Schembri's office, police seized only a single sheet of paper. This document was deemed relevant to the investigation because it referenced an article by Daphne Caruana Galizia.

Shifting to the statements provided by the Degiorgio brothers and Vince Muscat, the prosecution noted that it was evident early on that none of them had a personal motive to kill Caruana Galizia, and whenever questioned about it, all three maintained their right to silence. However, in April 2018, Vince Muscat began cooperating with investigators, prompting the Degiorgios to discover his cooperation two days later and instruct him to halt it immediately.

10:23 Inspector Kurt Zahra is asked about the 5 December search of the Castille office.

He says Keith Arnaud had checked with the new Chief of Staff, who told him that once Keith Schembri left, the office had been sealed up and nobody had been in.

Defence lawyer Giannella de Marco immediately jumps in: "It was not sealed off!"

Zahra hits back: "I'm answering the question I'm being asked!"

10:23 Vella then turns to Fenech's claim that Keith Schembri had handed him €80,000 in a Reebok bag.

Zahra says Schembri denied ever giving Fenech the money.

He explains that Schembri's name came up in the murder investigation on the 25 November 2019 - his name cropped up with the letter allegedly passed to Fenech through doctor Adrian Vella.

But Zahra says Schembri was never considered a suspect in Daphne Caruana Galizia's murder.

His arrest, he says, was linked instead to the alleged passing of the letter and a separate investigation into possible leaks of confidential information.

Zahra also reminds the court that several people were facing different charges arising from the wider investigation, including alleged leaks and the so-called phantom job - while this amounts to the third jury trial linked to Caruana Galizia's murder.

10:18 Inspector Kurt Zahra is back on the witness stand, with prosecutor Anthony Vella taking him through what the police were able to corroborate - and what they could not.

Zahra says Melvin Theuma had given investigators details of the murder plan, including its timing, before police had played him his own secret recordings.

When the recordings were eventually put to him, Zahra says, Theuma's account lined up with what police had already uncovered.

He points to Vince Muscat as further corroboration, saying Muscat confirmed details of Theuma's version, including where the hitmen had kept watch and where police later found a cigarette butt whose DNA matched Alfred Degiorgio.

10:02 An hour after he was due to take the witness stand, and with the tablet issue now hashed out, Inspector Kurt Zahra is back on the witness stand and the jurors are in court - minus their tablet.

It will be harder for the jurors to follow this part of the testimony, which involves documents they would normally view on their tablets, including transcripts and Signal chats.

10:01 Charles Mercieca says the defence understands that access to newspaper headlines on the jurors' tablets may have continued throughout the trial.

He reserves the right to come back with further requests once expert Bajada reports back.

Mercieca says it may also be appropriate for the expert to trace back the headlines that were accessible on the jurors' tablets, going as far back as possible, to see whether the jury sequestration has served its purpose.

Judge Edwina Grima orders that all the tablets issued to the jurors be collected and examined.

The aim is to establish whether any of the jurors may have had access to the internet through their devices.

Expert Martin Bajada is also being asked to report back to the court within a short timeframe.

10:00 Mercieca says his worry goes beyond the headlines themselves.

"What worries me is who is writing the headlines," he tells the court, "It's the agenda they may be pushing."

And just like that, the lawyers turn their attention to the tablets, scrolling up and down and checking what the jurors may have been able to access.

A few suggestions are floated, including checking the jurors' search history and finding out whether the same issue has been present since the trial began.

09:49 Mercieca raises a potentially serious concern: the tablets provided to the jurors, which are meant to cut them off from the outside world, may be displaying news headlines.

He tells the court that the tablets supplied by the court bring up headlines from across the news cycle.

Judge Edwina Grima says the relevant pages are blocked.

"Everything is blocked," she says, checking her tablet.

But Mercieca says he had seen images on one of the tablets yesterday and that, when the juror opens Chrome, the day's headlines appear, including both local and international news.

A heavy silence falls over the courtroom.

9:48 The prosecution is being asked to bring to the court's attention any cases where comments are made that could interfere with the trial's fairness.

At the same time, the judge says the court cannot - and does not want to - censor legitimate reporting of what takes place in court.

Nor does it want to curb the public's right to know what is unfolding during the trial or prevent fair comment on facts emerging in evidence.

9:46 The judge makes clear that the court is not seeking to put a lid on reporting of the trial, nor on fair comment about what emerges during proceedings.

But she says there is a line that cannot be crossed: court officials must not make comments, and others must not publish assertions, in a way that could undermine the fairness of the proceedings or prejudice the accused's right to a fair hearing.

The court will therefore allow reporting and fair comment, but will not tolerate statements about matters which are for the jury to decide.

09:36 Azzopardi says there has been a steady stream of articles and posts from people close to the defence, amounting to what he describes as a campaign to assassinate the character of a key prosecution witness.

He says this has been going on for weeks; day in, day out.

He then addresses what he sees as the defence's suggestion that the jury may somehow have been exposed to outside influence.

Azzopardi says he does not believe the jury has been compromised, stressing that he has "blind faith" in the officers of the court.

The jury, he points out, has been completely cut off from outside communication and pressure.

Against that backdrop, he says, what the defence is asking for cannot but amount to an infringement of the freedom of expression of people outside the courtroom, whoever they may be.

"Without prejudice to everything I have just said - and even though I believe every word of it - I am declaring from now that I will abide by any order the court, in its judgment, may make."

"All I ask is that we are kept informed of whatever the court orders," he says.

9:35

Azzopardi responds that, first and foremost, no one can comply with an order they do not know about.

He says he was never notified of any decree.

Secondly, he explains that he only shared a post by the victim's son, who is also his client.

He reiterates that he considers it intellectually dishonest to single out and censor certain comments while others are left untouched.

09:34 The exchange quickly turns heated.

Azzopardi fires back, raising his voice.

"There is a campaign going on every day to assassinate the prosecution's witnesses. A campaign of lies!"

Judge Edwina Grima tells him not to shout.

Azzopardi apologises, saying he has an obligation to put the accusation before the court.

He then accuses Mercieca of "intellectual dishonesty."

Mercieca responds, saying Azzopardi had defended the post by explaining that he wrote it because he has no contact with the jurors.

He says the sheer volume of posts from all sides - including from the parte civile and its representatives - could give the impression that they do not want a fair hearing.

The defence, Mercieca reiterates, makes its case in court, in the open and in accordance with the law.

9:33 While we're on the topic of concerning Facebook posts, Charles Mercieca turns his attention to a post published this morning by parte civile lawyer Jason Azzopardi.

Mercieca tells the court that Azzopardi had taken to Facebook after yesterday's decree, despite the court saying that this should not be done.

The post appeared to "challenge" that decree, he says, with Azzopardi writing: "What's next? They want to censor and gag those who say the obvious."

In the post, Azzopardi went on to question why people writing in favour of the defence's case were not being subjected to the same scrutiny.

09:25 Anthony Vella says the prosecution is "somewhat concerned" because posts targeting the accused are being flagged, while there are also plenty of posts in his favour.

Judge Edwina Grima says the court is not trying to gag anyone from reporting the trial or making fair comment. "But it has to be fair comment. It cannot be about the verdict."

The court has no issue with people reporting on the proceedings, she says, but it will not tolerate assertions and declarations on matters that are for the jury alone to decide.

"We are putting the administration of justice at risk," the judge warns.

"Those statements are of no benefit to anyone, other than putting the administration of justice at risk. We have been at this for two months."

9:21 Defence lawyer Charles Mercieca picks up where he left off yesterday.

Mercieca had flagged posts which went up on Facebook "by a particular society" saying that "Yorgen Fenech is guilty."

It was not specified which "particular society" he was referring to.

He insisted that the posts be taken down.

Eighteen hours later, the post is still up, he says, despite the court having issued a late-evening decree yesterday ordering it be removed.

Mercieca says a superintendent was supposed to speak to whoever put up the post and have it taken down immediately.

But the post remains online, he says.

9:15 Little has changed in the courtroom since the trial started, bar the evidence table in the middle groaning under the weight of yet more files.

But one thing has certainly been a constant throughout: a printed A4 photograph of Keith Schembri and Melvin Theuma on the defence lectern, where it has been staring back at the defence lawyers, Fenech in the accused's dock, and any curious member of the public gallery who might lean in for a look.

It's the infamous photograph showing Schembri standing along Melvin Theuma in Schembri's office in Castille.

09:15

We're gathered in Hall 22