A jury in Malta acquitted businessman Yorgen Fenech on Wednesday of charges related to his alleged role as the mastermind in the 2017 car bomb assassination of investigative journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia. The murder had a profound impact on Europe, leading to widespread protests that resulted in the resignation of a prime minister and revealing a concerning culture of impunity within Malta, the smallest country in the European Union.
Fenech was indicted in 2021 on allegations of complicity and criminal conspiracy, with prosecutors asserting that he ordered and financed the assassination. Despite these allegations, Fenech maintained his innocence, and the jury ultimately found him not guilty on both counts. He is the last of the six individuals charged in this case to be prosecuted.
Daphne Caruana Galizia, 53, was killed on 16 October 2017 by a car bomb while driving near her home. A prominent journalist, she reported extensively on corruption in Malta’s political and business circles, targeting figures in the inner circle of then-Prime Minister Joseph Muscat linked to the Panama Papers. At the time of her death, she faced over 40 libel suits. A 2021 independent inquiry found that the Maltese state “has to bear responsibility” for her assassination due to a culture of impunity from the highest levels of government.
Fenech was part of a consortium that won a controversial contract with the Maltese government to build a power station. His arrest in 2019, while attempting to leave Malta on his yacht, sparked widespread protests and ultimately led to Muscat’s resignation. After being acquitted on Wednesday, he left the Valletta courtroom amidst heckling but did not comment.
Daphne Caruana Galizia’s children were vocal in demanding justice for her death. Present in the courtroom during the verdict, her sons left without commenting. Later, the family posted a statement on Facebook, asserting that the verdict denied Caruana Galizia the “justice she deserves.”
They emphasised that, nine years after her assassination, the failures that allowed her murder remain unaddressed: “Our country failed to protect Daphne. It owes it to her to prevent other lives from being lost.” No cameras were allowed in the courtroom, in line with Maltese criminal trial customs.
In 2022, George and Alfred Degiorgio pleaded guilty to murder, and each received 40-year sentences. In 2025, Jamie Vella and Robert Agius were sentenced to life in prison for supplying the bomb that killed journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia. Vincent Muscat pleaded guilty in 2021 and was sentenced to 15 years. Taxi driver Melvin Theuma, a confessed middleman, received a presidential pardon in 2019 for his testimony.
This article used information from The Associated Press.
