Xhieda ta’ Corinne Vella – 4 ta’ Marzu 2020
Fl-Atti tal-Inkjesta datata 19 ta' Novembru 2019, rigward skont it- Termini ta’ Referenza ta’ l-Inkjesta Pubblika dwar l-Assassinju ta’ Daphne Caruana Galizia.
Seduta miżmuma llum l-Erbgha 4 ta’ Marzu, 2020.
Corinne Vella, bint Michael Vella u Rose Marie nee’ Mamo, imwielda Tas- Sliema u residenti Lija riprodotta bil-gurament tghid:
Witness: I have three (3) documents to present. This one it relates to testimony given by Glenn Bedingfield.
Imh. A. Lofaro : When he gave testimony before the board? Witness: Before the board yes.
Imh. A. Lofaro : Ok.
Witness: This relates to a particular post which Daphne had quoted on her blog and Glenn Bedingfield’s post was called: the time is coming and it included the words murder will out. So the purpose of this .
. .
Imh. A. Lofaro : Murder will out?
Witness: Murder will out. I believe the . . .
Dr. T. Comodini Cachia: We have asked him about this post. The bord has asked him about this post and he confirmed that it is his own, but we also indicated to the board that since the blog was pulled down, we cannot find the . . . . . .
Imh. A. Lofaro : But now we found it. Ok.
Witness: I didn’t find the original text, but I found evidence that corroborates the fact that Daphne was quoting the blog correctly, that readers interpreted the text as a death threat and that Daphne herself identified Glenn Bedingfield’s post as part of an orchestrated attack that had intensified in the weeks preceding her publication. I explain it all in the document. Would you like to keep this copy?
Dr. T. Comodini Cachia: Ix-xhud fil-fatt kien spjega li kienet post tieghu imma kienet guest post illi hu ppermetta li titla’.
Witness: Yes. It is a post which he published himself.
Imh. M. Mallia: Guest post, kurzita’, guest post tista’ tikkontrollha? Witness: Yes, off course.
Imh. A. Lofaro : Yes, off course. Mm. Tista’.
Imh. A. Lofaro : Even comments.
DR. T. COMODINI CACHIA: Affarik jekk ittellahhomx jew le.
Imh. A. Lofaro : Off course. You moderate them. Comments are to be moderated – ahseb w ara guest posts.
Witness: The posts are published by the blog owner or administrator. This is usually the same person, the whole of a blog is that it’s personal. Now if I want to put a guest post on somebody’s blog, I have to talk to the blog owner.
Imh. A. Lofaro : Of course.
Witness: I sent it to them, and they publish it unless they give me the administrator rights in which case I take responsibility along with them. But ultimately the blog belongs to the owner and they are the publisher and the have all the responsibilities of a publisher.
Imh. M. Mallia: Xi hadd qal li tista’ titfa’ blog minghajr ma tkun taf. Imh. A. Lofaro : Le, le, le, no.
Dr. T. Comodini Cachia: Fuq Facebook jista’ jkun . . . Imh. A. Lofaro : Facebook iva.
Dr. T. Comodini Cachia: . . . li titfa’ post, pero’ dak ghax is-settings ta’ min ikollu dak il-profile jkun jippermetti lil kullhadd lil jippostja, imma l- blog jahdem b’mod differenti – sa fejn naf jien.
Imh. A. Lofaro : Jien hekk nafha wkoll, fil-blogs no. Witness: Blogs do not – you know blogs are administered. Imh. A. Lofaro : Yes.
Witness: They are considered social media but they are not social media the way Facebook is. It’s – you know, the blog owner has a lot more control and as the comments that depends on the settings. You can either have them automatically uploaded or they can be moderated beforehand. You know like . . . .
Imh. A. Lofaro : I know that your sister monitored them.
Witness: She moderated her comments, so they went into her . . . . Imh. A. Lofaro : Yes of course.
Witness: . . . and she would review them before uploading them. In fact she used to have complaints from people who said why . . . .
Imh. A. Lofaro : Yes, I know. I know.
Witness: . . . haven’t you uploaded my comment yet when she would have like a thousand comments waiting.
Imh. A. Lofaro : Ehe.
Witness: Some people choose to have comments uploaded automatically, some choose to have them reviewed before uploading them. In either case they can always be deleted after they’ve been published.
Imh. A. Lofaro : But this was never deleted? The time will come, blog? Witness: The entire blog was taken down.
Imh. A. Lofaro : No, this post was it ever deleted? Witness: Not that I am aware of.
Imh. A. Lofaro : Ok.
Witness: Not that I am aware of. In fact the document which I presented today references are document which was tabled in Parliament in November two thousand and seventeen (2017) which was a list of search results on Glenn’s blog that included Daphne as a name in the title of the post. There were five hundred and eighty one
(581) posts that had Daphne’s name in their title. That does not include the posts that did not mention her by name in the title but mentioned her in the text. It’s number forty four (44) on the list. The purpose of the document is to authenticate Daphne’s quotation.
Imh. A. Lofaro : All right. Thank you.
Witness: This is a brief document about one of the witnesses who will testify today. His name is Ronnie Vella. He has been identified as a member of the communications team at the office of the Prime Minister, now the purpose of the communications team is to interact the media. The communications team is the interface between the institution and . . .
Imh. A. Lofaro : So meaning he worked with Kurt Farrugia as his head, right? Witness: Technically that would mean Kurt Farrugia is his head. Nigel Vella would have been his deputy. Currently it’s Matthew Tabone.
Whoever head the communications team is responsible for the communications team. And if Ronnie Vella was part of the communications team then his immediate superior would have been the director and the deputy director of the team. I did not find any evidence that he actually interacted with media. There is plenty of photographic evidence that he was with the Prime Minister Joseph Muscat and more recently with the current Prime Minister Robert Abela when they met the media outside in the
street, but he doesn’t interact with the media. He just simply stands to the side or at the back, and there is no communication between him and the media at all.
Imh. A. Lofaro : Ok.
Witness: So the final document which I like to present today – this is based on a blog post Daphne had published on the twenty second (22) April two thousand and thirteen (2013). It is a list of the internal contacts in the Secretariat Office of the Prime Minister. There were thirty five (35) names on the list. Two (2) it later turned out were people who had been employed by the previous administration but their names remain on the internal contact list after they had left. There may be others but as far as I can ascertain the list as published was correct. It includes the Prime Minister Joseph Muscat and also curiously his wife Michelle Muscat who is also assigned a government e mail address. All the names on the list have government e mail addresses in the same format, that includes Ray Barbara who is engaged as a person of trust. He has an e mail address which is raymonaabarbara@gov.mt and he also use ray@josephmuscat.com on government business.
Joseph Muscat’s e mail address is joseph.muscat@gov.mt , but he has also used joseph@josephmuscat.com when communicating with Christian Kaelen of Henley and Partners and also with cabinet Ministers and Civil Servants in the course of his official duties as Prime Minister. This is something Daphne had reported. And he had also used his gmail address in relation to official Government business which was documented by the National Audit Office. I include a reference here. Michelle Muscat’s e mail address is michellecmuscat@gov.mt but I couldn’t find any information about her role or what her official capacity was at the office of the Prime Minister. . . . I couldn’t verify directly but I was told where a name in an e mail address includes an initial that is not the person’s middle name. It is a letter assigned arbitrary or at random by the service to distinguish identical name. So michellecmuscat, ‘c’ simply identifies her as a separate Michelle to another Michelle Muscat, it doesn’t mean anything. So that’s for the board, so that’s what I have.
Imh. A. Lofaro : Thank you.