The trial by jury of former Armed Forces of Malta soldier Lorin Scicluna, accused of the racially motivated murder of Ivorian national Lassane Cisse Souleymane, continues today with the prosecution expected to resume its submissions.

During Monday's opening sitting, jurors heard the charges against Scicluna, 29, who is charged with murdering Cisse and attempting to murder three other migrants in attacks that took place in February and April 2019.

Prosecutor Abigail Caruana outlined the circumstances surrounding the alleged attacks, telling jurors that Scicluna and fellow former soldier Francesco Fenech had travelled towards Ħal Far with the intention of targeting migrants because of their skin colour.

According to the prosecution, the two men removed the registration plates from Scicluna's Toyota Starlet before driving towards Birżebbuġa on 6 April 2019. Jurors heard that Cisse was walking alone along Triq il-Ġebel, listening to music, when three shots were fired from inside the vehicle. One bullet struck him in the head, killing him at the scene.

The prosecution alleged that the men continued driving before opening fire on Mohammed Jallow and Ibrahim Bah, who were walking in the opposite direction after watching a football match. Both sustained gunshot injuries.

The prosecution is being led by AG lawyers Darlene Grima, Abigail Caruana Vella and Michaela Aquilina from the Attorney General's Office, while Scicluna is represented by defence lawyers Edward Gatt, Kris Busietta and Alessandro Farrugia.

Madam Justice Natasha Galea Sciberras is presiding over the jury

12:17 Mater Dei emergency nurse Stephanie Azzopardi is next to testify, recalling that she was on duty answering 112 emergency calls on the night of the incident.

She tells the court that an ambulance was dispatched to Triq il-Ġebel following a report of a man lying on the ground.

Her testimony is brief, and she is excused from the witness stand.

The prosecution then calls two further witnesses, but a court official informs the judge that neither is present.

12:14 Grima testifies that on the night of the murder, he received a call from 112 at around 11pm. The call came from a taxi driver who saw a man, probably dead, lying in the street.

Grima says he informed Mater Dei and the police control room.

No questions from the defence, so Grima steps off the witness stand.

12:11 Former police officer Eman Grima takes the witness stand, dressed in a suit rather than a police uniform.

The judge immediately reminds him that police officers appearing in court are expected to wear their uniforms.

Grima clarifies that he is no longer a serving police officer.

The judge then instructs him to inform his former colleagues that officers who appear in court without their uniforms could face contempt of court proceedings.

11:57 Defence lawyer Kris Busietta begins cross-examining Police Constable Matthew Tonna, questioning whether the emergency calls played in court were made by six different individuals.

Tonna says he cannot confirm this, explaining that he was only instructed to retrieve the recordings, not to establish the callers' identities or the telephone numbers used.

Busietta also raises the issue of establishing when each call was received.

Tonna confirms that the dates, times and other relevant details are recorded on the CD containing the calls.

The jurors are shown a list of the calls, together with their corresponding dates and times.

However, the judge says the information is not clearly visible on the screen and requests printed copies instead.

11:53 One of the recordings played in court captures the moment a foreign man, speaking in broken English, urgently reporting a shooting in Ħal Far.

"My friend was shot with a gun," he tells the emergency operator, who confirms that an ambulance is already on its way.

In other recordings, cries can be heard in the background as callers report that two people have been injured, with one confirming that a police sergeant is already at the scene.

11:39 Police Constable Matthew Tonna resumes his testimony, explaining that he was working within the police's IT section, where emergency call recordings are collected.

He recalls receiving a request from the prosecuting inspector to retrieve recordings of emergency calls made shortly after the incident.

The recordings are now being played in court. In the first call, a man reports finding a body lying in the road.

"Dead in the middle of the road," the caller says. The man then provides further details about the location, confirming that the body is in Triq tal-Ġebel and that he is at the scene.

In another call, a woman reports seeing a dead man lying on the ground.

"I saw a dead black man on the ground," she tells the emergency operator.

A third recording is played, in which a woman says she has just passed through Triq tal-Ġebel. The emergency operator asks whether she is calling about the dead man, to which she replies that she is.

In another call, a person similarly reports seeing a black man lying on the ground in the same street.

11:32 The judge is back in the hall, so the session can resume.

She instructs court IT expert Martin Bajada to examine Matthew Tonna's phone and uncover who sent him the document. The court will then determine whether the sender acted lawfully.

Meanwhile, Tonna's testimony can finally begin.

10:24 With Tonna once again out of the courtroom, the defence laid out its formal objection. They argued that a officer of the police corps was clearly concealing who had provided him with the compilation of evidence testimony. Given the seriousness of the breach, the defence called for an immediate investigation into the matter.

The prosecution pushed back, countering that the defence's demand was rooted in mere allegation. They argued that if the court believed the witness had been unduly influenced by the document, the judge could simply instruct him not to testify. Prosecutors added that the document in question appeared to be nothing more than a copy of Tonna's own prior testimony rather than that of other witnesses. Furthermore, they pointed out that his planned testimony was limited to routine details regarding the emergency calls received after the incident.

Taking the objection under consideration, the judge decided to pause proceedings to rule on the matter, while ordering court-martials to temporarily seize Tonna's phone in the meantime.

10:18 When Constable Tonna was escorted back into the courtroom, the judge immediately pressed him, asking who had sent him the testimony.

Tonna offered a vague reply, claiming he didn't remember, which drew an incredulous response from the judge, who demanded to know how that could possibly be. Tonna tried to explain that since he was no longer stationed at the Financial Crime Investigation Department, someone had sent him the document purely to help refresh his memory.

Defence lawyer Edward Gatt cut right through the explanation, pointing out that Tonna hadn't answered the actual question, and instructed him to look at his phone to identify the sender.

Tonna then admitted that he had merely taken a screenshot. A flurry of heated bickering ensued, with the judge firmly intervening to remind Tonna that he was testifying under oath. Gatt told the constable not to try to cover for anybody. With the legal argument escalating, Tonna was once again asked to leave the courtroom so the defence could formally record its objection. 

10:10 After the prosecution formally concluded its presentation, all eyes shifted to the first witness called to the stand: Police Constable Matthew Tonna.

As Constable Tonna stepped up to testify, he held his phone up, his eyes fixated on the screen. The gesture did not go unnoticed, prompting the judge to immediately intervene and ask what he was doing.

Tonna looked up and replied that he was simply reading a copy of his testimony from the compilation of evidence stage.

Defence lawyer Edward Gatt immediately stood up to press the issue, asking who had sent him a copy of the testimony.

Tonna admitted that he didn't know.

Gatt promptly raised a formal point of law. The court directed both Constable Tonna and the jury to be escorted out of the room so the legal challenge could be addressed without the presence of the jurors.

09:58 Prosecutor Abigail Caruana Vella is now further reminding jurors of the various charges Scicluna faces.

Apart from murder and attempted murder, Scicluna also faces charges relating to grievous bodily harm, slight bodily harm, possession of a firearm while committing a crime, and driving without registration plates.

09:58 Turning to the charge concerning the use of a Toyota Starlet without registration plates, prosecutor Abigail Caruana is telling jurors that this is not the first time Scicluna allegedly removed the plates from his vehicle.

However, she is clarifying that, in this case, he is only being charged with driving without registration plates on 6 April 2019, the day of Cisse's murder.

09:28 Prosecutor Abigail Caruana continues outlining the legal aspects of the charges against Lorin Scicluna, picking up where she left off during Monday's sitting.

She goes through the individual charges, explaining the relevant provisions of the Criminal Code and what the law requires for each offence to be established.

09:17 We are back inside Hall 22.

Madam Justice Natasha Galea Sciberras enters the courtroom as the jurors take their places.