Alfred Degiorgio refuses to testify in Daphne murder trial, asks about family’s protection in exchange for testimony

Key witness and convicted murderer Alfred Degiorgio refused to testify in the Daphne Caruana Galizia murder trial, accusing the court of “breaching all the rights” of both him and his brother and co-conspirator, George Degiorgio.

Instead, the witness, who was held in contempt of court for refusing to answer questions in a case in which he is obliged to testify, walked into the court and immediately accused Madam Justice Edwina Grima of breaching his rights and claimed that, “without any shadow of a doubt”, disgraced former economy minister Chris Cardona and former OPM chief of staff Keith Schembri were involved in the murder.

Degiorgio insisted that he is contesting the case at the European Court of Human Rights and that “the truth would shock all of you”, gesturing at members of the jury while he did so.

“It is your legal obligation to testify in this case. You have all the time in the world. Explain everything you know to the jury,” state prosecutor Godwin Cini insisted.

“I will not reply,” was Degiorgio’s stubborn response.

Under cross-examination by the defence, Degiorgio also refused to testify, except to repeat his previous declaration about Cardona, Schembri, and Cardona’s former lawyer and close associate, David Gatt. He refused to provide any evidence to substantiate his claim.

“What protection are you going to give to my family if I testify?” Degiorgio asked after the court warned him for the last time that he would be held in contempt of court.

“I can issue orders to protect your family if you have a fear of something happening to them,” Madam Justice Grima replied.

“If I knew, I would have asked for this, yes,” he added.

During re-examination, Cini asked Degiorgio to substantiate his claims, and the witness blamed the Assistant Commissioner for letting Keith Schembri “clean out” his office before Schembri was arrested, without adding any further information.

This is the third time that Alfred Degiorgio has refused to testify, having previously been held in contempt of court for refusing to testify during the compilation of evidence before Magistrate Rachel Montebello. He had also refused to testify during the libel case that Speaker Carmelo Abela had filed against criminal lawyer Jason Azzopardi, who is representing the Caruana Galizia family in this case.

Fenech stands charged with complicity in Caruana Galizia’s wilful homicide and criminal association. He denies the charges. The Degiorgio brothers were among the three executors who planted and detonated the bomb. Vince Muscat, who was pardoned to tell all about the crime, testified at length earlier this week, with his version of events placing Alfred Degiorgio at the centre of the conspiracy.

Before Degiorgio was called to the stand, the court heard submissions from the defence over what it described as insufficient notice of the prosecution’s witness list.

The defence complained that it was informed late on Tuesday evening that Alfred and George Degiorgio, together with Superintendent Nicholas Vella, were due to testify on Wednesday morning. It argued this breached the system adopted by the court at the start of the trial, under which the prosecution was expected to indicate witnesses at least 48 hours in advance whenever possible.

The prosecution said it was doing its utmost to notify the court and defence as soon as possible, but noted practical difficulties with witnesses and said Vella had been added to the list on the court’s direction to ensure there would be enough witnesses for the day.

The court noted there is no legal provision requiring either party to indicate the next day’s witnesses during a trial, but said it had adopted the 48-hour system because of the volume of evidence and documentation in the case. Madam Justice Grima ordered the prosecution to continue giving advance notice whenever possible, adding that the same would apply to the defence when it begins presenting evidence.

Earlier in the sitting, Professor Saviour Formosa testified about his role in reconstructing the crime scene and analysing its geography.

Formosa, a criminologist, said he had been asked to build a 3D model of the area, including Caruana Galizia’s home, the scene of the explosion and the locations from which the killers watched her movements.

He explained that the model was created using thousands of photographs, videos, and laser-scanning technology, and that it took around six months to render on powerful servers.

Formosa told jurors that the elevation of the explosion site contributed to the distance travelled by the vehicle after the blast.

He also explained that a technique known as viewshed analysis was used to identify elevated points with a clear line of sight towards Caruana Galizia’s home and the road leading out of Bidnija, narrowing down the areas from which the killers could have monitored her movements.

The trial continues on Wednesday afternoon.