Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1545896
EDGAR Brincat, known as il-Ġojja, without hesitation, indicated Yorgen Fenech as the person who orchestrat- ed Daphne Caruana Galizia's murder, as the trial by jury continued on Saturday. Brincat was a close confi- dante of Melvin Theuma, the middleman between Fenech and the hitmen, who carried out the assassination. Theu- ma was given a presidential pardon to tell all. Fenech is on trial, charged with commissioning Caruana Galizia's murder. He is plead- ing not guilty. Brincat was asked point blank by prosecutor Godwin Cini, who had given the order to orchestrate the journalist's murder. Without hesitation, Brincat delivered the defini- tive answer: "Yorgen Fenech." On the witness stand, Brin- cat explained that he had known Theuma since he was very young. Cini asked about the mo- ment Theuma confessed to Brincat, his involvement in the assassination plot. "Melvin Theuma came and spoke to me, and he told me about this case. He told me he was the middleman between Yorgen [Fenech] and the De- giorgios," he testified. Brincat said Theuma's world began to unravel when he caught wind that hitman Vince Muscat, known as Il- Koħħu, was talking to inves- tigators. This, Brincat added, prompted a desperate race for survival. Brincat recalled Theuma bringing the pen drives to his house first. The pen drives contained audio recordings of conversations Theuma had with Fenech and others. Though Brincat admitted he could barely make out an- ything beyond "muffled, dis- tant words", he told Theuma that the police would have the specialised technical appara- tus to clean up the audio. Brincat justified his advice to weaponise the tapes by point- ing out that Fenech was in- sulated. "As far as I knew, no evidence had surfaced against Yorgen. I asked Melvin, and he told me the Degiorgios never spoke to Yorgen. From here on, you could say it was Donald Trump [who did it], but it means nothing," Brin- cat remarked, noting that without the tapes, Theuma would be left to carry the en- tire blame alone. Brincat said he urged Theu- ma to guard the files fiercely. "Since people of power were involved, I thought that the tapes might be found and they would just throw them away." Brincat also testified about a visit Theuma had from Kenneth Camilleri, a former security officer to Prime Min- ister Joseph Muscat. Brincat said all he got to know from Theuma was that "they talked about securing bail for the Degiorgio brothers". Meanwhile, defence lawyer Giannella de Marco ques- tioned Brincat's reason for visiting former Police Com- missioner Lawrence Cuta- jar's private residence. Un- der intense questioning, the 71-year-old car dealer admit- ted visiting Cutajar's house on one occasion, ostensibly over a traffic fine. Brincat denied using the meeting to tell the police commissioner to consider a presidential pardon for Theu- ma. The prosecution is being led by AG lawyers Godwin Cini, Anthony Vella and Danika Vella together with Assistant Commissioner Keith Arnaud and Inspector Kurt Zahra. Yorgen Fenech is represent- ed by lawyers Giannella De Marco, Charles Mercieca and Gianluca Caruana Curran. Lawyers Therese Comodini Cachia and Jason Azzopardi are appearing for the Caruana Galizia family Judge Edwina Grima is pre- siding over the jury. YORGEN FENECH TRIAL SUNDAY • 19 JULY 2026 | maltatoday Yorgen Fenech's trial by jury Anna Calleja is a Maltese visual artist who works across figurative her usual studio practice, capturing the immediacy of the trial as George Degiorgio, known as ic-Ciniz, on the stand, being questioned prosecution KAYLYN LINWOOD klinwood@mediatoday.com.mt Edgar Brincat points to Yorgen Fenech as person who contracted middleman Melvin Theuma