Caruana Galizia public inquiry: Yorgen Fenech messages with politicians to be exhibited in court next week
The public inquiry into the murder of journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia continues with the testimony of police Inspector Kurt Zahra • Former foreign ministry perm sec says minister instructed her to recall Andrew Caruana Galizia from his diplomatic posting
14 October 2020, 1:44pm
Matthew Agius
Matthew Agius
2 min read
Police Inspector Kurt Zahra (File photo: James Bianchi/MaltaToday)
Yorgen Fenech had exchanged messages with political figures and people from all strata of society, a police inspector has told the Daphne Caruana Galizia public inquiry.
These exchanges are expected to be exhibited in next week’s session of the compilation of evidence against Fenech, Inspector Kurt Zahra said.
He was testifying this afternoon in the public inquiry, where he confirmed with the board that data collected from devices of people linked to the murder investigation showed ties with political and business figures.
“There were communications… but all the people communicating were not necessarily part of the plot to murder Daphne Caruana Galizia,” Zahra added.
He insisted that he was not privy to all the data, which was extracted by Europol.
“I don't want to say something unnecessary which could prejudice ongoing investigations… There are several communications with public persons,” Zahra said.
Zahra continued testifying behind closed doors.
A second witness to take the stand was Fiona Formosa, who works at the foreign ministry and in 2017 was permanent secretary.
Formosa said that a week after the 2017 general election, she was instructed by then foreign minister Carmelo Abela to recall Andrew Caruana Galizia, Daphne’s son, from his diplomatic posting in India.
She said that diplomats are normally given three-year postings before being recalled but Caruana Galizia had only been in India for one year.
She confirmed that the Maltese High Commissioner at the time had asked for an extension of Caruana Galizia's contract but her instructions were to recall him.
Formosa told the board she had discussed the High Commissioner’s written request with the minister her instructions were that the recall had to take place.
The vacancy created by Andrew Caruana Galizia’s recall was eventually filled in October 2017, some four months after the recall. During that period, Malta High Commission in New Delhi was run single-handedly by the high commissioner.
In the previous sitting, Social Policy Minister Michael Falzon testified.
The public inquiry into the murder of journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia is tasked with, amongst other things, determining whether the State did all it could to prevent the murder from happening.
Caruana Galizia was murdered in a car bomb just outside her Bidnija home 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.
The inquiry is led by retired judge Michael Mallia and includes former chief justice Joseph Said Pullicino and Judge Abigail Lofaro.
16:09 That's it for today. Thank you for following.
Kurt Sansone
16:08 The inquiry now continues on Friday at 2pm with testimony of Justice Minister Edward Zammit Lewis. On Monday, Paul Apap Bologna is expected to continue testifying.
Kurt Sansone
16:07 Copies of correspondence are exhibited. The witness leaves the stand.
Kurt Sansone
16:07 Formosa: “Yes.”
Kurt Sansone
16:07 Comodini Cachia: “So for four months it was just run by the High Commissioner?”
Kurt Sansone
16:06 “The High Commissioner and Caruana Galizia,” replies the witness.
Kurt Sansone
16:05 Comodini Cachia asks how many people were in the New Delhi High Commission.
Kurt Sansone
16:05 Formosa: “Yes. I had discussed it with the minister and reverted to the High Commissioner, telling him that the recall had to take place. He was eventually replaced in October 2017, some four months after his recall.”
Kurt Sansone
16:04 Lawyer Jason Azzopardi: "Do you recall High Commissioner Stephen Borg making his objection in writing to you?"
Kurt Sansone
16:03 Formosa explains that normally, diplomats have three-year postings but in this case Andrew Caruana Galizia was recalled after a year. She says the Maltese High Commissioner had asked for an extension of Caruana Galizia's contract but her instructions were to recall him.
Kurt Sansone
16:02 Comodini Cachia asks how the instruction was received from the minister but the witness doesn't recall, but promises to check her records. “This would not normally be in the personnel file,” she says.
Kurt Sansone
16:00 The witness says she has no information as to any issues with Andrew’s performance.
Kurt Sansone
16:00 Andrew Caruana Galizia was posted in Berlin in 2016. He is present in the courtroom, listening intently and exchanging words with his father.
Kurt Sansone
16:00 The witness couldn't say for sure.
Kurt Sansone
15:59 Said Pullicino says that normally, when a diplomat is recalled, this is done through the permanent secretary. “But isn't the ambassador informed as to why?”
Kurt Sansone
15:58 Andrew Caruana Galizia was still on the books but was on unpaid leave, she adds.
Kurt Sansone
15:58 Asked about the urgency for his recall she replies that she didn't know why but was only told to recall the diplomat. She adds that there were several quick postings and recalls at the time. This one was a week after the 2017 general election.
Kurt Sansone
15:57 She is asked if there is a personnel file for Caruana Galizia. Formosa believes so but points out that she is no longer perm sec at the ministry.
Kurt Sansone
15:56 Formosa: “We simply had a direction from the minister [Carmelo Abela] that he had to return.”
Kurt Sansone
15:55 Formosa is asked about Andrew Caruana Galizia’s diplomatic posting in India from which he was recalled shortly after the 2017 general election.
Kurt Sansone
15:54 Fiona Formosa takes the stand. She works at the Ministry for Foreign Affairs. In 2017, she was permanent secretary.
Kurt Sansone
15:54 Welcome back. We’re back inside the courtroom where the inquiry board is meeting.
Kurt Sansone
15:17 Journalists and members of the public have been sent out of the courtroom until the next witness is called.
Kurt Sansone
15:17 Zahra says the data will be exhibited in the next sitting of the compilation of evidence against Yorgen Fenech, scheduled for Wednesday next week.
Kurt Sansone
15:06 He will continue testifying behind closed doors.
Kurt Sansone
15:05 The police inspector says that the communications are with people from all strata of society. "I don't have all the information and I don't want to mislead the court," Zahra adds.
Kurt Sansone
15:04 "There are several communications with public persons," says Zahra hesitantly.
Kurt Sansone
15:03 Zahra: "I don't want to say something unnecessary which could prejudice ongoing investigations."
Kurt Sansone
15:02 Zahra reminds the board that he hadn't seen all the data and makes it clear that all the people communicating were not necessarily part of the plot to murder Daphne Caruana Galizia.
Kurt Sansone
15:02 Zahra: "There were communications, yes."
Kurt Sansone
15:01 Retired judge Michael Mallia, who is heading the inquiry, asks about ties to political figures or businessmen. “Had the data shown ties of any sort between them?”
Kurt Sansone
14:59 Zahra: "I don't want to speculate. There is a lot of data to be processed. If I could say with certainty that we know the motive, then we wouldn’t need to investigate further."
Kurt Sansone
14:59 Chief justice emeritus Joseph Said Pullicino, a member of the inquiry board, points out that Zahra had testified that the data had helped establish the motive for the murder. “What was the motive?”
Kurt Sansone
14:57 Zahra: "I cannot say with certainty but the way things worked out, they must have been passed on in batches. The data is all backed up. The task force tags the data and passes it on to the relative squad. The data was passed on to my unit before the new police commissioner was appointed.”
Kurt Sansone
14:56 Comodini Cachia asks how the information extracted by Europol was passed on to the task force.
Kurt Sansone
14:55 Zahra says Europol were appointed by the inquiring magistrate, when asked who Europol were answerable to.
Kurt Sansone
14:54 Lawyer Therese Comodini Cachia points out that the witness can only testify on what the task force passed on to him. Zahra says the investigation has not reached the stage where someone knows everything. "Europol have all the extractions passed on to them. In the task force, the data was divided - you have people on the homicide, others on the economic crime aspect, and so on," he explains.
Kurt Sansone
14:52 Zahra: “The task force leaders number eight at least. They are all police officers. There is no AG representation. There are members of the MSS and Europol on the task force.”
Kurt Sansone
14:51 Madam Justice Abigail Lofaro asks whether he knew if the Attorney General had a copy of the data. He says he does not know. “I would receive the data not administer it,” he adds.
Kurt Sansone
14:50 Zahra: “Over 11 separate investigations sprouted from the task force, all with inspectors and officers allocated to them.”
Kurt Sansone
14:49 Zahra says the devices were handed to Europol that transported them to The Hague for analysis. There was some analysis in Malta but this was sent immediately to Europol.
Kurt Sansone
14:49 Asked whether anything was extracted by the Malta Security Service in Malta, Zahra says he wouldn't know. "I cannot exclude it, there are several inquiries and investigations underway."
Kurt Sansone
14:48 Zahra says that the homicide squad, FCID, MSS all have a shared space at police HQ dedicated to the Daphne Caruana Galizia murder investigation. He adds that data was extracted at Europol headquarters at The Hague.
Kurt Sansone
14:46 He says the task force was set up in conjunction with Europol.
Kurt Sansone
14:44 Zahra: “We are currently in phase 3 of the investigation. In this phase, the task force expanded and the work done by different departments was gathered in one room and analysed by officers. There is a massive amount of data garnered from several arrests.”
Kurt Sansone
14:43 The inquiry is starting. Inspector Kurt Zahra takes the stand and is asked for an update on the investigation.
Kurt Sansone
14:14 The session has not started yet.
Kurt Sansone
14:13 We are here for another sitting of the Daphne Caruana Galizia public inquiry.
Kurt Sansone
14:13 Good afternoon.
Kurt Sansone
Matthew Agius was Senior Reporter on Law and Court Affairs at MaltaToday from 2014 to 2024...
