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YORGEN FENECH TRIAL TUESDAY • 26 AUGUST 2026 | maltatoday CONTINUES FROM PAGE 1 Cini also highlighted how closely Fenech appeared to fol- low reporting about 17 Black and confronted him with a remark to pardoned middle- man Melvin Theuma about Caruana Galizia: "I'll throw her down from here, and I won't regret it." Fenech acknowl- edged making the remark but described it as "a comment in poor taste." 'I was a loyal friend' The questioning then shifted back to the relationship be- tween Fenech, Theuma and Schembri. Cini put it to Fenech that both Theuma and Vincent Muscat, known as il-Koħħu, had testified that the busi- nessman repeatedly pressured Theuma to get the killers to act. Fenech denied this, main- taining instead that Schembri had been exerting pressure on Theuma, something he says he only discovered later. Cini questioned why, if Fenech had nothing to do with the murder, he had placed himself between Theuma and Schembri. Fenech said he had acted out of loyalty, protecting Schembri and trying to con- tain the situation. "I was a loyal friend," he told the court. That explanation came un- der further scrutiny when Ci- ni turned to a USB containing secret recordings made by Theuma. Fenech said he never listened to the recordings de- spite being told some involved Schembri, and instead handed the USB directly to Schembri without keeping a copy. Cini sarcastically pointed out that Fenech had handed what could potentially have been evidence implicating Schembri to Schembri himself. The pros- ecution suggested he had actu- ally disposed of the recordings because they implicated him, which Fenech denied. Cini then returned to Fenech's claim that receiving Theuma's recordings in Octo- ber 2018 had been a "turning point." Fenech acknowledged knowing at that stage that he could be implicated because he had done "several wrong things", including passing on information, and admitted having taken on what he de- scribed as an "ugly role." He nevertheless maintained he never considered himself in- volved in the murder. Asked how he reacted when he believed Theuma was trying to implicate him, Fenech said: "I cried." He claimed he con- tinued paying Theuma because he was being blackmailed. Cini questioned how the CEO of the Tumas Group, who was re- ceiving information connected to the murder investigation, could simply have failed to act. "I didn't know how to deal with criminals," Fenech re- plied. 'Who are you fooling?' The prosecutor questioned why, if Fenech genuinely be- lieved Theuma was trying to frame him, he never secretly recorded him or sent a mes- sage confronting him so that he could preserve it as evi- dence. Fenech confirmed he had not. Cini eventually raised his voice. "Who are you fool- ing? Mr Fenech, you aren't fooling anyone. These are your fingerprints all over this mur- der." "It's not true," Fenech re- plied. Cini then announced he had no further questions. Defence submissions begin Defence lawyer Charles Mer- cieca then began his submis- sions to jurors, framing the case as "a story about power." Almost on cue, the court- room's electricity cut out, prompting laughter before power was quickly restored. Mercieca argued there was no reliable evidence proving Fenech gave Theuma the or- der to murder Caruana Galizia. He focused on Theuma's claim that the alleged instruction was given outside the Blue El- ephant restaurant, questioning why Fenech would commis- sion a murder through a taxi driver he barely knew, in broad daylight outside a busy restau- rant, despite having a private office on Level 21. "Use your judgement," Mer- cieca urged jurors. "There is something missing. There is a person missing." Mercieca also pointed to a passport stamp dated 7 April 2017 which, according to the defence, showed Fenech leav- ing for the United States for around a month, placing him abroad during the period when Theuma allegedly said the Blue Elephant meeting took place. He criticised investigators for allegedly failing to check pas- senger manifests, speak to Blue Elephant employees, establish whether the restaurant was open or properly determine Fenech's whereabouts. "If Fenech was abroad, who spoke to Theuma in April? You need to be morally sure. 'It could be' is not enough." A substantial part of Mercie- ca's address focused on Keith Schembri. "Daphne Caruana Galizia wasn't killed because of what she was going to write. She was killed because of what she had already written," Mer- cieca said, referring to a 31 May 2017 communication in which Caruana Galizia alleg- edly told Schembri, she knew he had paid money to silence her. He also highlighted a meeting between Schembri and lawyer David Gatt on 16 August 2017 and a subsequent call from Gatt to George De- giorgio, which he said emerged from Europol's analysis of SIM cards. 'A cover-up and a frame-up' Mercieca then launched one of his strongest attacks on the state's case, describing it as "a cover-up and a frame-up." He accused the state of effectively buying Theuma's testimony by granting him a presiden- tial pardon and forgiving his crimes in return for identifying Fenech as the mastermind. "The state bought a person, gave him a pardon, forgave him for everything, so that he could say Yorgen Fenech of Tumas was the mastermind," Mercie- ca told jurors. He argued that Theuma's repeated accounts were riddled with inconsist- encies and questioned why investigators had not seized Schembri's phone and laptop or Johann Cremona's phone. Mercieca also warned jurors against prejudice, describing it as "the enemy of justice." "We are not defending homicide. We are defending the rights of a person. Nobody is saying murder is acceptable," he said. Mercieca attacked what he described as serious gaps in the murder investigation. He highlighted a 14 May 2018 Europol report, which he said examined possible instigators and contractors and indicated that the murder may have been planned as early as 2016, with Keith Schembri and Chris Car- dona among names featuring in the analysis. "These are serious gaps. Gaps like these cannot give you cer- tainty," he told jurors. Mercieca asked why record- ings supposedly referring to Schembri had never been pro- duced. According to Mercieca, the investigation ultimately resulted in "Keith being taken out of the picture and Yorgen being put in his place." Mercie- ca will continue his address to jurors on Wednesday. The prosecution is being led by AG lawyers Godwin Ci- ni, Anthony Vella and Dani- ka Vella, alongside Assistant Commissioner Keith Arnaud and Inspector Kurt Zahra. The defence is led by lawyers Gianella de Marco, Charles Mercieca and Gianluca Caru- ana Curran. Lawyers Therese Comodini Cachia and Jason Azzopardi are appearing parte civile for the Caruana Galizia family. Madam Justice Edwina Grima is presiding over the jury. Defence accuses state of buying Theuma's testimony with pardon Left to right: Defence lawyer Charles Mercieca and prosecutor Godwin Cini (Photos: James Bianchi/MaltaToday)