Degiorgios and Muscat pre-trial pleas rejected by court

The three men accused of planting the bomb that killed Daphne Caruana Galizia were back in court on Friday for a decision over their trial by jury. 

Brothers George and Alfred Degiorgio sat at the dock, while Vincent Muscat sat right behind them, under the watchful eyes of heavily armed security officers as Madam Justice Edwina Grima pronounced her decision on the preliminary pleas that had been raised by the Degiorgios to the bill of indictment issued by the Attorney General. 

Several sittings had been held wherein lengthy arguments were made on 118 pleas raised by the Degiorgios and some eight pleas raised by Muscat, rebutted by the prosecution. 

In a 209-page long judgment, the court rejected all those pleas, stating that, at the opportune stage, it would address the jurors at the upcoming trial, warning them of the probatory value of the evidence put forward. 

The court would also guide the jurors on the due weight to be given to that evidence when making their final deliberations before the verdict. 

The court also directed that during the trial no reference was to be made to the accused’s criminal record, save for those specific instances envisaged by law. 

Following...