Yorgen Fenech, one of Malta’s wealthiest businessmen, has been acquitted of involvement in organising the murder of investigative journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia in October 2017.
The 44-year-old was acquitted by an 8-1 jury verdict on both charges brought against him by prosecutors: complicity in the intentional killing of Caruana Galizia and conspiracy to commit a crime. Prosecutors are expected to appeal.
According to the indictment, Fenech hired three men to kill Caruana Galizia for €150,000 because the journalist, who was investigating corruption involving political figures and business interests, was preparing to publish a report that threatened his uncle’s financial interests.
Yorgen Fenech was accused of hiring three men to kill Caruana Galizia because she was preparing to publish a report that threatened the business interests of one of his relatives.
His defence argued that he did not order the murder but acted as an intermediary, focusing on the fact that the authorities had not sufficiently investigated Keith Schembri, chief of staff to then-prime minister Joseph Muscat, over his role in the murder.
Caruana Galizia was killed on October 16, 2017, when a bomb planted under the driver’s seat of her car exploded near her home. The case triggered a political and constitutional crisis in Malta that threatened to bring down the government. Muscat resigned shortly after Fenech’s arrest in December 2019. Caruana Galizia was one of Malta’s best-known journalists, and the EU’s journalism prize is named after her.
The verdict was a blow to Caruana Galizia’s family, as well as to politicians and activists who see the case as a landmark for the protection of press freedom in the EU, according to The Guardian. Her sister said the outcome sends the message that “you can kill journalists and get away with it,” adding that, almost nine years after the murder, there has still been no full accountability for who ordered it.
Source: The Guardian [1], [2]
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