Former Times of Malta journalist Ivan Camillieri has “categorically” denied accusations of tipping off Yorgen Fenech prior to his arrest last November.

Camillieri was mentioned in court today by former OPM chief-of-staff Keith Schembri in the police’s compilation of evidence in the Daphne Caruana Galizia case against murder suspect Yorgen Fenech.

Schembri said that Fenech once messaged him that “The Times are after us”. This was after the tip-off from former TOM journalist Ivan Camilleri, Schembri said.

Camilleri, who had worked at The Times since 2004, was dismissed in December 2019 following allegations of stealing from a supermarket and tipping of Yorgen Fenech hours before his botched escape attempt from Portomaso.

“Reference is made to media reports regarding Mr Keith Schembri’s testimony in court today in which he gratuitously repeated claims made against me by my former employer, Times of Malta,” Camillieri wrote.

“It is interesting to note that Times of Malta and Keith Schembri are repeating the same lie.”

In a statement sent to the press, Camillieri publicly and categorically denied passing on any information to Yorgen Fenech in relation to the assassination of Daphne Caruana Galizia.

Since his dismissal from the Times of Malta, Camilleri has filed legal proceedings against the newspaper.

Times of Malta has since replied to Camilleri’s statement, insisting that the reasons behind his sacking are “very well known to him” and that any insinuations made are simply a figment of his imagination.

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