Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/826032
maltatoday, FRIDAY, 19 MAY 2017 News 9 MAT THEW AGIUS BLOGGER Daphne Caruana Galizia yesterday defended her request that a court orders mobile phone op- erators to present copies of remotely recorded location data pertaining to a mobile phone belonging to minis- ter Chris Cardona, who has sued her for libel. Magistrate Francesco De- pasquale heard both parties make verbal submissions on the request by the defence to preserve the evidence so that every applicable TAP file in the operators' pos- session to be deposited in court in a sealed envelope until they testif y and, be- fore doing so, to analyse the data relating to January 30, between 5pm and 12:30am and January 31st between 2pm and 7pm – where, ac- cording to Caruana Galizia, the minister would have been inside the German brothel FKK Acapulco in Velbert, Essen. Cardona insists that he remained in Essen for the duration of the trip where he was on government busi- ness, together with consult- ant Neville Gafà. Law yer Joe Zammit Maem- pel, representing Caruana Galizia, told the court that one party "will commit per- jury". Cardona's law yer Paw- lu Lia, together with law yer Mark Vassallo, had already denounced the request as a "fishing expedition" in a previous sitting. Zammit Maempel said his client had previously said she had an eyewitness, and argued that the fact the ver- sions of both sides in the case are contradictory gave all the more reason for the preservation of the TAP file, which would contain data that could establish the lo- cation of Cardona's phone, including timestamps of calls made and SMSs sent. TAP files are only stored for six months by the operators. "This is indisputable scien- tific proof. The versions of the two persons in this case clash. This proof will 100% show who is lying. Someone will commit perjury in this case, either one side or the other," Zammit Maempel said. Law yer Antonio Ghio, who is also representing Caruana Galizia in these proceedings, said the re- quest was not for permis- sion to present the evidence, but to have the service pro- vider hold onto data which would otherwise be deleted. "All we are asking for is the urgent intervention of the court so that the best evi- dence that exists is not lost," the law yer said. Ghio argued that the de- fence would present their evidence at the correct stage, pointing out that the other party also had to pro- duce evidence to sustain their insistence that the al- legations were not fair com- ment. He also mentioned the number of garnishee orders filed against his client, ar- guing it should have been Cardona and his consultant who should have requested the TAP evidence in the first place to support their denials. "This is not a fish- ing expedition," Ghio said. "In this case Caruana Gali- zia is aware that the evi- dence exists and wants it to be preserved." In his reply, law yer Pawlu Lia argued that Caruana Galizia had chosen to claim "fair comment" instead of putting forward facts to prove her allegations. "Time has come for society to pro- tect public figures and to draw a line between infor- mation which is in the pub- lic interest and that which is private. The case could set a dangerous precedent. "Sensitive data that is not relevant to a case should not be allowed. A balance must be reached between the right to privacy and the right to information. Pri- vacy may only be cast aside when this is in the public in- terest and the law lays down clear instances when this applies." 'Somebody will commit perjury' in Cardona Acapulco libel case, court told Daphne Caruana Galizia (right) has claimed that economy minister Chris Cardona (left) was at a brothel in Germany Specialists in EXPOSED AGGREGATE (pebble look). • Available in a choice of colours. • The perfect surface for any outdoor area including driveways, pool areas and steps. • Cleaning and reseal of existing surfaces also available. • All works carried out to a high standard. Customer satisfaction is essential. Fast, friendly service. • On site quotes on request. Call on 99953411/ 99978412 or email on: lghtnjns@gmail.com