The Health Department said there was one new case in Malta, taking the active tally to 6. There were no recoveries in the past 24 hours.
Morning Briefing
Self-confessed middleman in DCG case unable to speak
Timesofmalta.com reports that the state witness in the Daphne Caruana Galizia murder case is unable to speak after suffering damage to his vocal cords as well as multiple stab wounds in what police believe was a case of self-harm. During a press conference yesterday, Police Commissioner Angelo Gafa insisted that it was Theuma himself who indicated that he had harmed himself, in the presence of paramedics.
Caruana Galizia case – Court hearings
Another tense day rolled out in Court yesterday, in the aftermath of the previous night apparent self-inflicted wounds by self-confessed middleman Melvin Theuma. The Court heard, in a marathon eight-hour session, how so-far unheard clips made by Theuma had disappeared, and ordered that these should now be played behind closed doors, after lead investigator Keith Arnaud argued that a number of people mentioned in the clips had yet to be investigated.
Meanwhile, former Police Commissioner Lawrence Cutajar strongly denied that he had received money in exchange for granting Theuma a pardon, saying that anyone who claimed that was “bluffing or lying”. He re-iterated that the recommendation of a pardon for the middleman was made by investigators not by himself.
In a statement issued late afternoon, the Police said that Theuma was still in ITU, but his condition was stable. The matter was also raised in Parliament with Opposition MPs piling pressure on Minister Byron Camilleri to shoulder responsibility, who countered by arguing that the Opposition was seeking political points through this episode.
PN Parliamentary group meeting ends after few minutes
A PN Parliamentary group announced by Leader Adrian Delia for yesterday evening came to an abrupt end after the majority group of MPs who out-voted the Party leader in a confidence vote refused to discuss any other matters except the next steps for the PN in the wake of such vote. From his end, Delia wanted to discuss the developments following what had happened in the morning.
In comments picked up by The Malta Independent, PN MP Therese Comodini Cachia, said: “In view of what happened overnight, it is clear that the country needs a credible opposition. The only subject my colleagues and I are willing to discuss during this meeting is how the party leader needs to respect the two votes of confidence he lost. This is the only issue we are willing to discuss today. And we are willing to discuss this issue only because it is clear that hat the PN needs to be a strong, stable and credible opposition, If we don’t manage that, surely we will not be able to fight this web of corruption that has taken over this country under a Labour government.”
Coronavirus
There were two new coronavirus cases in Malta during the previous 24 hours, the Health Department said, adding that these cases were not related to previous cases. Both were sporadic, it said, with one displaying symptoms. During the same timeframe, one person has recovered.
This means Malta has a tally of 679 cases, 5 of which are active. Meanwhile, The Times of Malta revealed that none of the passengers that have landed in Malta from safe countries have had to be tested for COVID-19 so far. This was confirmed by Superintendent of Public Health Charmaine Gauci who added that thermal screening was being carried out at both the arrivals and departures lounges but there had been no need to test anyone yet.
