Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/985406
maltatoday | WEDNESDAY • 23 MAY 2018 3 NEWS MATTHEW AGIUS AT 2.58pm the mobile phone attached to the device un- derneath the driver's seat re- ceived a message that read '#REL1=ON'. It triggered an electric pulse that detonated the explosive material packed into a metal box with no top. Death ensued as the powerful explosion ripped through the victim. Journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia died instantly and her car ended up a ball of fire. An explosives expert from Europol, Mario Cmarec, told the court hearing evidence against three men accused of her murder, he had no doubt the bomb's position and com- position was intended to kill the driver and anyone in the car. Drafted in by the Maltese au- thorities to help in the murder investigation, a month after the explosion, the Croatian explosives expert gave a de- tailed description of how the bomb was crafted. It had a 5mm metal plate on the bottom, with metal bars and a metal sheet making up the sides. The device had no top, which Cmarec said was an indication that the bomb makers wanted to direct the explosion upwards, directly towards the victim. The Europol expert was one of three foreign officials who testified yesterday as the com- pilation of evidence continued in front of Magistrate Claire Stafrace Zammit. Three men stand charged with the murder – George Degiorgio, known as iċ-Ċiniż, Alfred Degiorgio, il-Fulu, and Vince Muscat, il-Koħħu. All are pleading not guilty. Lawyers for the accused tried stopping experts from the American FBI from tes- tifying, yesterday, by filing a constitutional case. However, their plea was thrown out by a judge on Monday, clearing the way for the American agents to take to the witness stand. The FBI agents, Richard Fen- nern and William Shute, are specialists in historical cell site analysis to track down the lo- cation of mobile phones. They gave the court a blow- by-blow account of how they used triangulation data to understand which mo- bile phones were used in the bombing and where they were located. The agents told the court they were asked to come to Malta on the same day of the bombing, arriving on the is- land two days later. They met lead police inves- tigator, Inspector Keith Ar- naud, and the mobile phone service providers. The agents identified 53 different Vodafone devices used between 2.58pm and 3.03pm on the Vodafone net- work. They then asked which of these devices were used again. From that information, one of the 53 was never used again. The 16 October activity was an incoming text message from 99684366 at 2.58pm, one of the agents explained. The position of the text mes- sage was consistent with the area of the explosion. The text message was de- coded and it showed that the mobile phone number 99684366 sent a text mes- sage to 99683752 at 2.58pm and that message was "#REL1=ON'. The agents explained that phone 99684366 and the cor- responding SIM card was placed in a device, which was utilised to top up the phone, rendering it active. At 2.19pm there was an out- going call, followed by two top-up texts, in turn followed by a confirmation of the top up. Agent Fennern said they concluded that the numbers 99684366 and 99683752 were those utilised to detonate the device. The position of the 4366 was at sea, while the 3752, a GSM module, was in Bidnija. Numbers consistent with being in the areas involved with the detonation only communicated with one an- other and 99088823, he said. "It is our opinion that numbers ending 8820, 8824 and 8823 were involved in the placing and detonation of the device, the bomb to which the GSM module was attached to," Fennern said. The resultant explosion highly damaged the vehicle and the majority of the poten- tial evidence was destroyed. The Europol explosives ex- pert said the explosive charge was located on the floor- board, under the driver's seat. The explosive used was typi- cal of a military explosive, such as TNT, or hexogen, Cmarec told the court. "Between 300g and 400g of TNT equivalent explosive was used. If it was TNT mixed with ammonium nitrate the explosive would be heavier," he said. Cmarec said three ball bear- ings were also found on the crime scene but it was his be- lief that these were added to mislead the investigation. "This has happened in some bomb attacks. The device was an improvised explosive de- vice, not ready to use device, like military ordinance. It was clearly designed and con- structed by the bomb maker from various regularly availa- ble material or some restrict- ed companies," Cmarec said. The analysis left him with no doubt as to the criminal nature of the explosion. "We can clearly exclude every type of suicidal or accidental ex- plosion. Device design and placement was clearly to kill the driver and anyone else in the vehicle." The mobile phone puzzle that led investigators to Caruana Galizia's killers DAPHNE CARUANA GALIZIA MURDER Which number did what? Based on the initial tower dump and the location of the bomb detonation, the FBI agents concluded that: Number 99683752 was connected to the bomb device and acted as a detonator. Based on the text message content, 99684366 sent the message to detonate the device. The mobile 99088802 acted as a lookout in Bid- nija. He called 99088824 in order to execute the detonation. Based on a review of records, it is believed that number 99088820, 99088824 and 99088823 worked together to execute the placement and detonation of the device. These were co-located in the same areas on 16 October. Based on the tower dump information for number 99684366 on the 16 October it is believed that number 99623741 subscribed to George Degiorgio was also co-located to the numbers 99684366 and 99088824. Telephone number 99328493 believed to be associated with Alfred Degiorgio and number 99088820 were co-located throughout the usage period of number 99088820. 99683752 99684366 99088822 99088820 99088823 99088824 99684366 99088824 99623741 99328493 Just before the witnesses took to the stand, defence lawyer Martin Fenech requested the protection of the court after al- legations made by Nationalist Party MP Jason Azzopardi in Parliament. Azzopardi is appearing parte civile for the Caruana Galizia family and last month alleged in Parliament that the three ac- cused were tipped off by a police officer of their imminent arrest. Fenech lamented that Azzo- pardi used parliamentary privi- lege to say something about the case, which he claimed could "impinge on his client's rights". "It's not fair that a criminal case is heard in Parliament so that he uses parliamentary privi- lege and nobody can speak to him. I'm not going into the mer- its of what he said, but I cannot rebut them due to parliamen- tary privilege," Fenech told the court. Azzopardi replied that in his speech, he had emphasised more than three times the pre- sumption of innocence of the accused. "It was a political ar- gument and not a legal one and the things said were confirmed in the acts of the case. That an MP speaks in parliament is not an abuse but a right and a duty," he said. The court will decree in cham- bers on the request. Defence lawyer claims Jason Azzopardi's parliamentary statement prejudicial to his client