The police will present their evidence against the three men accused of assassinating journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia after their fresh delaying tactic was turned down up by the presiding magistrate.

After failing in their attempt to force the recusal of magistrate Claire Stafrace Zammit on the basis of a blogpost Caruana Galizia had written about her husband in 2013, the defence team called for the Constitutional Court to analyse the process behind Stafrace Zammit’s selection as magistrate.

However, after three hours of deliberation, Stafrace Zammit turned the call down. 

The original magistrate assigned to the case, Donatella Frendo Dimech, had been selected by lot. However, it was Chief Justice Silvio Camilleri who personally handpicked her successor Charmaine Galea – who recused herself yesterday – and her second successor Claire Stafrace Zammit.

The defence team of George Degiorgio (Iċ-Ċiniż), his brother Alfred (Il-Fulu) and their friend Vincent Muscat (Il-Koħħu) are now demanding to know exactly what led Silvio Camilleri to select Stafrace Zammit. 

Sketch by Seb Tanti Burlo 

Lawyer William Cuschieri and legal aid lawyer Martin Fenech also warned the court could be pressured by the media’s coverage of the proceedings and by Prime Minister Joseph Muscat’s comment yesterday that he is confident the Chief Justice will appoint a new magistrate to the case as soon as possible. 

“We are not questioning the independence of the court, but indicating the discretion of the Chief Justice in handpicking magistrates, and questioning whether he showed some bias in his selection of magistrate A and not magistrate B,” Fenech said “His decision must be validated and analyzed.”

However, lawyers and PN MPs Therese Comodini Cachia and Jason Azzopardi – appearing in parte civile – for the Caruana Galizia family accused their counterparts of adopting ridiculous tactics just to delay proceedings. 

“If the defence has faith in the court’s independence, then the thought process of the Chief Justice is irrelevant,” Comodini Cachia said. “As for the rest, the journalists are just informing the public of what is going on and the Prime Minister’s comment was merely indicating he has faith in the courts. In what way can this prejudice the impartiality of the case?”

The magistrate is expected to take a decision at around 4pm. 

READ NEXT: UPDATE (3): Magistrate Recuses Herself From Caruana Galizia Murder Trial

Tim Diacono

Tim is interested in the rapid evolution of human society and is passionate about justice, human rights and cutting-edge political debates. You can follow him on Instagram or Twitter/X at @timdiacono or reach out to him at [email protected]