Third magistrate appointed to preside over compilation of evidence after second recusal
Magistrate Claire Stafrace Zammit will preside over the case
A third magistrate was yesterday appointed to hear the compilation of evidence into the murder of journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia after a second magistrate recused herself.
A third attempt for the compilation to start will be made this morning, with the hearings to be presided over by Magistrate Claire Stafrace Zammit, who has been chosen to hear the proceedings by Chief Justice Silvio Camilleri.
Yesterday, Magistrate Charmaine Galea decided she would not hear the case on the basis that Daphne Caruana Galizia had written about her and her appointment. The defence lawyer for the three men accused of the murder insisted that Magistrate Galea should not hear the case.
This was practically a repetition of what happened last week, when Magistrate Donatella Frendo Dimech also recused herself after declaring that she had been a schoolmate of one of the victim’s sisters and that the two had recently exchanged words of condolence.
There were fears yesterday that these legal manoeuvres might see the accused walk free since the law states that the suspects have to be indicted within 30 days of the charges being filed. This means that should delaying tac
tics continue to prevail and the compilation of evidence fails to conclude by this stipulated time frame, the three suspects would be released conditionally. Should this take place, the prosecution would have to present fresh evidence in order to re-file the murder charges.
In comments to the media, Prime Minister Joseph Muscat said that he was confident that the chief justice would not allow the case to collapse because of a technicality. Muscat said the rule of law drew a distinction between the executive and the judiciary. He was watching what was happening and he was sure the chief justice would not allow such an important case to collapse on a technicality. There was, therefore, no need for an appeal for urgency on his part.
Daphne Caruana Galizia was killed by a car bomb near her home in Bidnija on 16 October. Brothers Alfred and George Degiorgio, and Vince Muscat, are pleading not guilty to murder. They were among ten men arrested at the beginning of December. The other seven are out on police bail.
At the start of yesterday’s session, Magistrate Galea said that the slain journalist had written about her appointment as a member of the Maltese judiciary. According to the magistrate, Daphne Caruana Galizia had described Galea’s appointment as “disgusting.”
Following the initial statements by the magistrate, lawyer Martin Fenech said there are grounds for the magistrate to recuse herself and that if the court sees that it needs to refrain from presiding the case, it should feel free to do so.
Prosecutor Philip Galea Farrugia rebutted by saying that the article by the journalist did not attack the integrity of the courts. Later, lawyer Jason Azzopardi, who together with Therese Comodini Cachia is appearing as parte civile for the Caruana Galizia family, clarified that the article which reference is being made to, did not attack the magistrate directly.
Jason Azzopardi said that the family feels that these delays are uncalled for. “I call on this court not to be manipulated by those who want to evade justice,” he said. “The only party which might find a problem with the sitting magistrate is the family of Caruana Galizia. And we are here to declare that we have no problem with having the sitting magistrate preside over the case.
“We are here to preside over the compilation of evidence,” Azzopardi added. “The magistrate should not recuse herself knowing that this might hinder the course of justice.”
Lawyer Martin Fenech disagreed with the statements made by Azzopardi. He said that everyone has the right to be presumed innocent until proven otherwise. “With all due respect, all this pressure on the judiciary is injustice in itself. If the court feels that it has to recuse itself, the court should be free to do so. If the victim described your nomination as ‘disgusting’”, the magistrate should feel free to recuse herself.”
Azzopardi said that he is not trying to exert pressure. “We are doing anything but exerting pressure. What we are saying is that the other party should not use us to object.” Azzopardi said that the victim never criticized the magistrate personally. “The criticism was within what was permissible on the magistrate’s nomination.” Fenech was quick to tell Azzopardi to avoid being theatrical. “This is not parliament,” he said.
The magistrate then asked those present for silence as she had to write her decree. The hall, which was filled by journalists from every media house in Malta, fell silent as everyone waited for the final decree. After a couple of minutes, the magistrate read out her decision to recuse herself.
She decreed that she should recuse herself arguing that justice has to be seen as being delivered, besides being actually carried out.
The decree was read out before the three accused men and the victim’s widower, Peter Caruana Galizia.