Yorgen Fenech weapons case to begin on Friday

Yorgen Fenech will be back in court on Friday as the case against him in a separate case involving the purchase of weapons from the dark web begins.

Magistrate Nadine Lia was selected by lot this morning to hear the case and the first sitting will be on Friday morning.

Lia’s selection will mean heavy scrutiny on the magistrate, who had previously been obliged to recuse herself from hearing the inquiry into Melvin Theuma’s phantom job and the compilation of evidence against the alleged Caruana Galizia bomb makers due to her family ties to Pawlu Lia, one of the principal lawyers to former prime minister Joseph Muscat.

The case comes after Yorgen Fenech was arraigned on Thursday in connection with dark web purchases of firearms and explosives in 2018. The proceedings are separate to those in which he is accused of masterminding the 2017 murder of journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia.

Fenech, the man accused of plotting the murder of the journalist, was charged with buying weapons in breach of the Arms Act and without having the necessary licence from the Police Commissioner.

It had been confirmed in court that on 25 November 2018, Fenech attempted to purchase automatic weapons, cyanide, grenades together with some 800 rounds of ammunition.

Fenech is pleading not guilty to all charges.

READ MORE: Yorgen Fenech charged with illegal purchase of weapons, ammunition