Former chief of staff Keith Schembri will be facing cross examination by the lawyers of Yorgen Fenech, a former friend of his who now stands charged with Daphne Caruana Galizia s murder.
The development came at the end of a three-hour compilation of evidence sitting on Thursday.
Defence lawyer Charles Mercieca listed Schembri, Fenech s associate Johann Cremona, Europol experts and murder middlemen among those the defence team wishes to cross-examine.
Fenech denies the charges against him, insisting that Schembri was behind the murder of the journalist in October 2017.
In court testimony last year, it emerged that Fenech had told police during his interrogation that it was Schembri who wanted to murder Caruana Galizia and that he allegedly paid Melvin Theuma €85,000. Schembri has strongly denied the claims, saying he never spoke to the businessman about the murder.