An inquiry into the brutal murder of journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia has cost over €136,000, almost half of the sum going into the analysis of DNA samples.

A detailed breakdown of the bill up to the end of last month was tabled in Parliament by Justice Minister Owen Bonnici in reply to a question by Labour MP Clayton Bartolo.

Ms Caruana Galizia was killed in a car bomb attack on October 16 last year, shortly after leaving her residence in Bidnija.

Brothers Alfred and George Degiorgio and Vincent Muscat were charged with her murder in December. They have pleaded not guilty as public calls persist for the mastermind to be apprehended and prosecuted.

According to the data tabled in Parliament, Maltese firm BioDNA Laboratory Services Limited was paid €66,693 for the analysis of DNA samples.

The rest of the expenses were mainly related to court-appointed experts, including €8,600 to Martin Bajada and €11,655 to Robert Critien for the analysis of electronic data. Other notable expenses were €9,077 for services rendered by criminologist Saviour Formosa and €5,413 to safety and security expert John Gera.

Another €3,148 were spent for the accommodation of four Dutch experts brought to Malta by the Home Affairs Ministry to assist in the investigation.

Court-related expenses totalled €20,456, covering 493 hours of proceedings.

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