Caruana Galizia public inquiry: location data for Cardona's mobile phone in Germany inconclusive
The Daphne Caruana Galizia inquiry receives a technical report on geolocation data for Chris Cardona's mobile phone while on official government business in Germany in January 2017 when the journalist alleged he had visited a brothel
Updated at 11:41am with Chris Cardona's reaction
A technical analysis of geolocation data for Chris Cardona's mobile phone cannot conclude with precision whether the former minister was at a conference or a brothel, while in Germany in January 2017.
The analysis was presented today to the public inquiry into the murder of Daphne Caruana Galizia.
The expert only had information from one cell tower which was close to the German city of Essen, where the conference had taken place.
He explained that the data from the tower could have placed Cardona’s mobile phone in either Essen or Velbert, where the journalist alleged he had attended the Acapulco brothel with an aide.
The expert explained that he would need information from three cell towers to arrive at a more precise location for the mobile phones through a process known as triangulation.
Cardona reacts
Reacting soon after the testimony, Chris Cardona said the data came from a tower that was some 2-3km north of Essen, while the distance between the city and Velbert is approximately 20km. "There are other antennae close to Velbert, so how can one assume that while the phone was connected to an antenna closer to Essen it could also have been close to Velbert. There’s a distance of 17km with other antennae in between," Cardona said.
The former minister has always denied being present at the brothel as alleged in Caruana Galizia's blog.
Hacking attempt on blog
The public inquiry also heard an IT expert testify how in February 2017, some 10 days after the journalist wrote about the Cardona brothel incident, his company handled a very particular hacking attempt on Caruana Galizia’s blog.
The expert said the individuals behind the attack tried to pose as Caruana Galizia, asking for information on how to access the blog by fishing for details.
Had the individuals obtained the information they asked for they could have potentially had access to Caruana Galizia’s sources.
The blog later sustained a more sophisticated denial of service attack.
The inquiry continued behind closed doors.
In the last session, murder middleman Melvin Theuma testified how his life had ended with Caruana Galizia's murder.
The inquiry is tasked, among others, to determine whether the State did all it can to prevent the murder from happening.
The inquiry is led by retired judge Michael Mallia, former chief justice Joseph Said Pullicino and Judge Abigail Lofaro.
Caruana Galizia was murdered in a car bomb just outside her Bidnija house on 16 October 2017. Three men, George Degiorgio, Alfred Degiorgio and Vince Muscat, have been charged with carrying out the assassination, while Yorgen Fenech is charged with masterminding the murder.
Melvin Theuma, who acted as a middleman between Fenech and the three killers, was granted a presidential pardon last year to tell all.