Keith Schembri had told magistrate Aaron Bugeja that Daphne Caruana Galizia “crossed the limit” when she wrote about his health problems.

Schembri’s testimony about the assassinated journalist emerges from the Egrant inquiry report, which has just been published by Opposition leader Adrian Delia. Since then, he has been implicated by Yorgen Fenech in the murder of Caruana Galizia and is set to testify in court tomorrow as part of a constitutional case that Fenech has filed.

“It can be on the record or off the record. You’re asking me about this article writer, I think this person has caused a lot of harm to my personal life and my family life,” Schembri said. “Everyone knows that I have health problems, and she invented a condition, made my family crazy. I was going to America for treatment and she provided my date of death without even… I am living proof of her lies, you see. I don’t think it’s right, as in the data protection commissioner forced her to delete the claim that I have an inoperable eye tumour from her site or pay €2,500 and €250 a day… and the article is still online, you see.”

“It’s not because I want to squabble, I don’t mind, but she has crossed the limit. At the worst time of my life, it wouldn’t even have crossed my mind… I was at a clinic in America, going for a PET scan, I had to wait for half an hour and I saw a comment ‘make cancer bring him down’. I have no respect….I dont know how to hate but I have no respect for people like that and I think I am currently responding to a frame-up (montatura).”

“She’s been lying about me for weeks, a year, a year and a half and I promised myself that I wasn’t going to sue her for libel. However, last week I opened two libel suits against her. It can’t go on like this. There’s a difference between subjective opinions about a person and this impacting your family. When your 13-year-old daughter approaches you and says ‘Daddy, they said you’re going die at school’ and you don’t know how to respond… I feel hurt that I am here today responding to these allegations.

“Not from your end, you’re doing well, but I mean, this has gone… I have never seen anything like it, never in my life, you know, not even abroad, no one has ever done these things. We are currently discussing a blog like this, I think it’s disrespectful to our country.”