Live: Defence seeks magistrate's recusal as Keith Schembri to be charged with perjury
Former OPM chief of staff Keith Schembri is set to be arraigned once again, this time in connection with his alleged leaking of information about the Daphne Caruana Galizia murder investigation. Among the expected charges, Schembri is expec
Former OPM chief of staff Keith Schembri is set to be arraigned once again, this time in connection with his alleged leaking of information about the Daphne Caruana Galizia murder investigation.
Among the expected charges, Schembri is expected to be accused of perjury and breaching the Official Secrets Act.
The charges come following a five-year investigation.
In 2019, the pardoned middleman in the Daphne Caruana Galizia murder, Melvin Theuma, stated that the murder's alleged mastermind, Yorgen Fenech, was constantly informed of developments in the investigation. Theuma said that during a conversation he had with Fenech, the businessman had mentioned that Keith Schembri was his informant.
Earlier this year, Judge Lawrence Mintoff, who was presiding over a case instituted by Fenech, issued a damning ruling and said that Schembri would attend briefings at Castille on the murder, even when Theuma's pardon request was being discussed, without disclosing his friendship with Yorgen Fenech.
This continued even after Fenech became a suspect and his mobile phone was tapped by the Security Services.
Last April, the Daphne Caruana Galizia Foundation said the police must act on the "abundance of evidence" against Keith Schembri.
"As the court stated in the judgement against Fenech this week, there are clear indications as to who is responsible for the leaks from the investigation into Daphne's murder and enough evidence to arraign those responsible for the crime. Each of Schembri's attempts to help Fenech evade justice represents a criminal breach of Malta's Official Secrets Act and Secret Services Act that carries a severe prison term," the foundation had said.
The four-year prescriptive period on the criminal complaint filed by Daphne's family expires in December this year.
11:04 The sitting is currently suspended.
11:03 Before Schembri could be charged, his defence asked magistrate Gianella Camilleri Busuttil about her history working as a prosecutor within the Attorney General's Office. The defence asked the magistrate whether she had ever been involved in cases where Schembri was involved.
The magistrate said that she definitely had acted as prosecutor in the case against the Degiorgio brothers, with the defence stating that many of the witnesses that will testify in this case were probably witnesses summoned by the magistrate when she was a prosecutor.
After a short discussion with their client, the defence requested the recusal of the magistrate.
10:55 The magistrate has just entered the courtroom. The sitting is about to begin.
10:41 Today's sitting has just been moved to Hall 29, as court staff informed those present in Hall 14 that there is no power in the courtroom.
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