Alfred Degiorgio on hunger strike in prison

Alfred Degiorgio ‘Il-Fulu’, one of the men accused of murdering journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia, is on hunger strike, sources have confirmed to this newspaper.

Alfred Degiorgio, who is set to face trial over the murder, is reportedly on hunger strike because he has not been given access to a lawyer of his choosing.

According to reports, Alfred Degiorgio was admitted to Mater Dei Hospital on Sunday after his health took a turn for the worse due to the hunger strike, he started last week.

The Degiorgio brothers – Alfred and George Degiorgio - have been remanded in custody, awaiting trial for the murder of Daphne Caruana Galizia, ever since their arrest in Marsa, two months after the 2017 assassination.

They had also filed constitutional proceedings in June this year, arguing that the courts’ refusals to release them from pre-trial detention had breached their fundamental rights.

The case had been assigned to Madam Justice Miriam Hayman, during the course of which the brothers had testified about the conditions in which they were being held in prison. The case has since been ceded.

Last August, in a surprise move, Degiorgio brothers lawyer William Cuschieri renounced patronage of the accused. The surprise move comes at a time when Cuschieri was negotiating a plea deal for his clients with prosecutors.

The case is being presided by Judge Edwina Grima.

The Degiorgios deny the charges against them but in a clamorous statement when interviewed for a podcast on Caruana Galizia’s murder, George Degiorgio admitted to carrying out the hit job and that for him it was “business as usual”.

The Degiorgios are accused of procuring a bomb, planting it in Caruana Galizia’s car and detonating it. Cabinet had turned down their attempts for a presidential pardon.