Fenech trial in Malta: €150,000 for journalist Caruana Galizia's murder
Businessman Yorgen Fenech is being tried in Valletta for the 2017 murder of the journalist. He is accused of paying €150,000 to three hitmen.
Trial over car bomb: Fenech denies involvement in Caruana Galizia murder
According to Google News GR — Crime (el), on 16 October 2017, shortly before 3 p.m., the car of investigative journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia exploded and came to rest in a field as she was leaving her home in the village of Bidnija. She was 53 years old.
A bomb placed in a box of children's shoes beneath the driver's seat had been detonated remotely. The perpetrators, according to the charge sheet, had broken into the vehicle the previous evening after weeks of surveillance. Her son, Matthew Caruana Galizia, was the first to arrive at the scene and found her body inside the burning car.
The defendant and the charges
Yorgen Fenech, 44, heir to a real estate empire that includes the Hilton Malta hotel and casino, appeared before the court in Valletta on Wednesday wearing a navy suit and glasses. He pleaded not guilty.
He was referred to trial on two charges: complicity in the wilful homicide of Galizia and participation with one or more persons in a conspiracy to commit a crime in Malta. He is the seventh and last of the defendants in the case to be tried — five have already been convicted and one secured a pardon in exchange for testimony. Fenech was arrested seven years ago. He was released on bail in February after the legal period of pre-trial detention had expired.
The plan: a phone call near the Hilton and an envelope of cash
According to the charge sheet, the conspiracy was planned in April 2017. Fenech called Melvin Theuma, a taxi driver and bettor, and asked him to meet near the Hilton, where Theuma held a lucrative position receiving hotel clients. There, according to the charge sheet, Fenech asked him to find someone who would kill Galizia and himself suggested a possible hitman: George Deguirgio, a member of organised crime who operated from a warehouse at the Marsa docks.
Fenech is alleged to have said he wanted the murder because the journalist was about to publish a report about his uncle. Later, as implementation was delayed, he is alleged to have applied pressure by saying that Galizia was about to publish a report about himself.
Theuma came into contact with Deguirgio and his brother Alfred. A price of €150,000 was agreed, with €30,000 payable as a deposit. However, with the announcement of elections for 3 June 2017, Fenech suspended the plan. Two weeks after the re-election of the Labour government, according to the prosecutor, Fenech told Theuma to proceed. The charge sheet states that he personally handed over an envelope with the money.
Five hours for the jury — one juror fainted
The beginning of the trial proved difficult: the opposing sides needed five hours to agree on the composition of the jury, as reported by The Guardian. Officials were called to intervene after an alternate juror fainted as the temperature in the courtroom rose to 33°C. Under Maltese law, jurors will remain isolated for the entire duration of the trial, staying in a hotel without access to computers, mobile phones or smartwatches.
Who was Caruana Galizia
Magazine publisher, newspaper columnist and blogger, Daphne Caruana Galizia was one of the most recognisable media personalities in Malta. Her investigations into senior government and business figures had made her a target of repeated attacks from politicians and their supporters. Her death sparked a wave of outrage across Europe.
Source: Google News GR — Crime (el)