Matthew Caruana Galizia tells jury Electrogas probe dominated mother’s final days

Matthew Caruana Galizia told jurors on Monday that the Electrogas investigation dominated the final months of his mother Daphne Caruana Galizia’s life, describing how they worked together to analyse thousands of leaked documents connected to the controversial power station project.

Testifying in the trial by jury of businessman Yorgen Fenech, Matthew Caruana Galizia said he assisted his mother in examining a substantial cache of internal Electrogas records that she had received from confidential sources. He explained that he was responsible for organising and processing the material while she focused on the journalistic investigation.

He told the court that the volume of documents was considerable and that the work occupied much of their time in the months leading up to his mother’s assassination on 16 October 2017.

Caruana Galizia said the documents related to the Electrogas consortium and its operations, with the investigation focusing on financial transactions, contracts and other internal records. He described how they worked together to identify information that could form the basis of further reporting.

During his testimony, he explained the methods used to analyse the documents, including cataloguing files and searching for links between individuals, companies and financial transactions.

The witness also referred to the publication of stories arising from the leaked documents, while explaining that the investigation was ongoing at the time of his mother’s death.

At one stage during the proceedings, the defence objected to parts of Caruana Galizia’s testimony, arguing that some of the evidence amounted to hearsay. Following the objection, the judge asked the jury to leave the courtroom while legal submissions were heard.

After considering the arguments made by both the prosecution and the defence, the court ruled on the objection before the jurors were recalled to continue hearing the evidence.

The testimony forms part of the prosecution’s evidence in the trial of Yorgen Fenech, who is charged with complicity in the assassination of Daphne Caruana Galizia.

Fenech has pleaded not guilty.

Electrogas has featured prominently in previous investigations into alleged corruption in Malta. Fenech was a shareholder in the Electrogas consortium, while Daphne Caruana Galizia published a series of reports concerning the project before her assassination.

The jury also heard that the investigation into Electrogas had not been completed when the journalist was killed and that work on analysing the leaked material was still ongoing.

The trial continues tomorrow.