THE second day of Vince
Muscat's testimony in Yor-
gen Fenech's trial heard evi-
dence that George Degiorgio
had allegedly obtained Daph-
ne Caruana Galizia's mobile
number and repeatedly mes-
saged the journalist before her
assassination.
Muscat's testimony was
also dominated by an ex-
tensive cross-examination,
with Yorgen Fenech's de-
fence repeatedly challeng-
ing the convicted hitman's
recollection of key events
surrounding Daphne Caru-
ana Galizia's assassination.
Muscat was also confront-
ed with previous testimony
concerning former minister
Chris Cardona, lawyer David
Gatt and former OPM chief
of staff Keith Schembri.
The sitting began with
prosecutor Godwin Cini at-
tempting to clarify an incon-
sistency over when Melvin
Theuma handed over the
€30,000 deposit for Daphne
Caruana Galizia's assassina-
tion. While Muscat had pre-
viously testified the money
was delivered after the 2017
general election, he now said
he believed it was paid short-
ly before the election.
Defence lawyers objected
after prosecutors repeatedly
referred him to his earlier
testimony, prompting Judge
Edwina Grima to rule that
the prosecution could not
continue asking the same
question once the witness
had already answered it and
his memory had been re-
freshed.
WWW.MALTATODAY.COM.MT
€1.00
WEDNESDAY • 15 JULY 2026 • ISSUE 1002 • PUBLISHED EVERY WEDNESDAY AND SUNDAY
EDITORIAL • PAGE 11
Xemxija traffic
bottleneck set
to worsen with
proposed mega
complex
XEMXIJA is already considered a
strategic traffic bottleneck in national
transport plans and the situation is set
to get worse with a proposed 11-sto-
rey mixed-use development.
The project proposed (PA/04199/24)
by the Polidano Brothers Ltd will gen-
erate 3,502 additional vehicle journeys
every day, adding further pressure on
the road network in the area. Apart
from residences, the project includes
commercial development, a super-
market and a cinema.
The development is planned on a
7,133sq.m site fronted by Triq Is-Si-
mar to the south and Triq Raddet
Ir-Roti to the north.
CONTINUES PAGE 4
WEDNESDAY EDITION
JAMES
DEBONO
jdebono@mediatoday.com.mt
CONTINUES PAGES 2-3
MALTA TO MISS 2030 TRAFFIC-INDUCED NITROUS OXIDE EMISSIONS TARGET
MAYA
GALEA
mgalea@mediatoday.com.mt
Hitman messaged Daphne
before her assassination
YORGEN FENECH MURDER TRIAL
Vince Muscat il-Kohhu
(Photo: Juliana Zammit/MaltaToday)
PAGE 5
