Nearly nine years after a car bomb ended her life in October 2017, Maltese journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia remains at the center of a judicial earthquake. On Wednesday, a Maltese jury delivered an 8-1 verdict acquitting Yorgen Fenech, a businessman and heir to a multimillion-euro property empire, of all charges connected to her assassination.
A Decisive Verdict and Immediate Outrage
Delivered at 7:30 p.m. in the capital of Valletta, the verdict brought gasps from the public gallery and cheers from Fenech’s relatives. The jury of six women and three men cleared the 44-year-old of both complicity in voluntary homicide and criminal association.
Judge Edwina Grima immediately ordered Fenech’s release from custody, sparing him what could have been a life sentence. Fenech walked out of the court through the front entrance, offering no comment to waiting journalists.
Pavol Szalai, director of the Prague bureau of Reporters Without Borders, declared that the authorities had ultimately failed to identify and convict the mastermind behind the murder.
“Everybody is much more at risk now, because this signals you can kill journalists with impunity,” said Corinne Vella, Caruana Galizia’s sister, capturing the despair felt by the journalist’s family.
In a public statement shared on Facebook, Caruana Galizia’s eldest son denounced the outcome as a terrible decision that the country may never recover from, emphasizing that the jurors had a profound responsibility to deliver justice.
The Political Aftershocks in Valletta
The assassination of Daphne Caruana Galizia triggered a political scandal in Malta. At the time of her death, the journalist was investigating offshore business deals linked to prominent political figures through the Panama Papers, focusing specifically on a controversial power station deal involving Fenech.
Her reporting resulted in then-Prime Minister Joseph Muscat being forced out of office, alongside two of his ministers and his chief of staff. While Muscat stepped down, the party he led remains in power.
Following Wednesday’s verdict, Alex Borg, leader of the opposition Nationalist Party, demanded the urgent reopening of parliament from its current recess. Addressing a crowd of demonstrators gathered outside the parliament building, Borg called journalism the backbone of democracy and labeled the verdict a black spot on the government’s record.
The Maltese government responded to the ruling by issuing a statement urging public calm and prudence during a delicate judicial moment, insisting that the administration remains committed to seeing justice served through its institutional framework.
Unpacking the Prosecution’s Case
Throughout the two-month trial, prosecutors argued that Fenech utilized his extensive political and corporate network to orchestrate the murder. According to the state, Fenech allegedly paid €150,000 through a middleman, Melvin Theuma, to have the journalist killed.
During his closing arguments, prosecutor Anthony Vella told the jury that the accused believed his wealth and political connections could buy justice, testing whether a man with such influence could successfully pay to silence investigative reporting.
Despite these arguments, the defense successfully navigated the proceedings, leading to the decisive eight-to-one acquittal. Prosecutors are expected to appeal the verdict, ensuring that the legal battle surrounding the attack on a journalist is far from over.
Looking Ahead at the Fragile State of Press Freedom
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