Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1545966
KEITH Schembri kept a blue file at his Castille office, con- taining Daphne Caruana Gal- izia's Running Commentary posts on him, evidence sub- mitted in court shows. In Yorgen Fenech's trial by jury on Saturday, jurors were shown footage of investigators searching Schembri's office at Castille in December 2019. Fenech is on trial accused of masterminding the murder of Daphne Caruana Galizia. The journalist was assassinated with a powerful car bomb on 16 October 2017. Fenech is pleading not guilty. The footage of the search shot by Inspector Charlot Casha, who was testifying, shows investigators pulling multiple files and documents from a cabinet. Schembri then appeared in frame, holding a mobile phone and gesturing with open hands as he ad- dressed the officers. In one close-up sequence, Casha held a document fea- turing the handwritten words 'DCG' and 'arrests' close to the camera lens. During cross-examination, defence lawyer Giannella De Marco pressed Casha on several procedural points re- garding the Castille search, pointing out that the raid was executed under the Daphne Leaks inquiry rather than the homicide investigation itself. De Marco highlighted the absence of scene of crime of- ficers and noted the visual anomaly of finding no laptop inside Schembri's office in late 2019, asking the witness what investigators were primarily searching for. Inspector Casha repeatedly clarified that as the sole foren- sic officer tasked strictly with filming and photographing, he could not answer what was elevated or targeted, directing those queries to the lead in- vestigators. De Marco also confront- ed the witness over footage showing Keith Schembri holding a mobile phone dur- ing the search, a point Casha conceded was possible, while the defence questioned why a key paper featuring references to 'DCG' and 'PD' was han- dled and filmed on the desk rather than being placed im- mediately into an official evi- dence bag. In the footage, Schembri's body language appeared visi- bly tense as he uncrossed his arms, shifted his hands into his pockets, and darted glanc- es between the camera and the investigating team. Meanwhile, digital forensics expert Keith Cutajar earlier faced detailed questioning from both the defence and the jury regarding extractions performed on devices seized from Schembri's Mellieħa res- idence. Under cross-examination, Cutajar confirmed he was un- able to extract data from an iPad and an Asus tablet seized at the residence. Data re- trieved from other household devices appeared to belong to Schembri's family members rather than Schembri himself. A juror questioned how search parameters were exe- cuted across the seized files. Cutajar explained that he was instructed to follow strict 'ex- act match' protocols. Cutajar clarified that while network operators retain communi- cation activity logs, the local physical contents of a handset cannot be retrieved remotely through a service provider. The prosecution is led by At- torney General lawyers God- win Cini, Anthony Vella, and Danika Vella, assisted by As- sistant Police Commissioner Keith Arnaud and Inspector Kurt Zahra. Fenech is represented by de- fence lawyers Charles Mercie- ca, Giannella De Marco, and Gianluca Caruana Curran. Lawyers Therese Comodini Cachia and Jason Azzopardi are appearing parte civile on behalf of the Caruana Galizia family. YORGEN FENECH TRIAL SUNDAY • 26 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 Conversations between Melvin Theuma and Johann Cremona played in the courtroom. "Missu ma qatilhiex," (He should not have killed referring to Yorgen Fenech. "Mejta aghar minn hajja." (She is worse dead than alive) KAYLYN LINWOOD klinwood@mediatoday.com.mt Keith Schembri kept folder of Daphne's blog posts in Castille office