Acquittal in Daphne Caruana Galizia murder case: Businessman Fenech not guilty
A jury in Valletta acquitted businessman Yorgen Fenech of the charge of being the mastermind behind the car bombing of Maltese journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia.
Jury acquits Fenech of murder charge by 8-1 verdict
Nearly nine years after the car bomb attack on Maltese journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia, a jury has acquitted businessman Yorgen Fenech of all charges. As reported by Google News AT — Crime (de) citing the Kurier, the court in Valletta found the 44-year-old neither guilty of aiding and abetting murder nor of criminal conspiracy on Wednesday — the voting result was clear at 8 to 1.
Caruana Galizia was blown up in her car near her home on 16 October 2017. The 53-year-old investigative journalist had reported on corruption in Malta's politics and business, and was considered one of the country's most prominent reporters.
Crown witness and murder intermediary
The prosecution based its case on testimony from Melvin Theuma, Fenech's chauffeur. Theuma had confessed to acting as an intermediary between the contract killers and Fenech; he received a pardon for his cooperation. He backed up his testimony with recordings and text messages in which he and Fenech communicated about the contract killers and the murder investigation. Theuma stated that Fenech had given him €150,000.
Fenech admitted to knowing about the murder plans but denied responsibility. He claimed that his former friend Keith Schembri — who was chief of staff to Prime Minister Joseph Muscat at the time of the crime — was the true person who commissioned the murder.
Background: Arrest and government crisis
Fenech, a member of one of the island state's most influential business families located south of Sicily, was arrested in November 2019 as he was leaving from a harbour in the upmarket St. Julian's district that he owned on his yacht. He was director of a power plant consortium, which Caruana Galizia had extensively investigated.
The arrest, along with suspicion of involvement by senior government officials, sparked nationwide protests in December 2019 and forced Prime Minister Muscat to resign, which took effect in January 2020. An investigation published in 2021 found that the government had created a "climate of impunity" for those who wanted to silence Caruana Galizia.
Three perpetrators convicted, two given life sentences
Three contract killers had already confessed to their guilt some years ago and are serving sentences ranging from 15 to 40 years. Two other men, convicted of supplying the bomb used in the crime, received life sentences.
Fenech's acquittal brings an end to one of the longest murder trials in Malta's history — with an outcome that observers regard as an unexpected turn.
Family calls for further investigation
Caruana Galizia's family reacted with disappointment to the verdict. The acquittal denied the journalist the justice she deserved, the family stated in a statement. The institutional failings that had enabled the murder remained unaddressed.
Source: Google News AT — Crime (de)