Trial Begins for Yorgen Fenech in Daphne Caruana Galizia Murder Case
Seven years after his arrest, Maltese businessman Yorgen Fenech stands trial in Valletta for allegedly masterminding the 2017 car-bomb assassination of investigative journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia.
Trial Begins for Yorgen Fenech in Daphne Caruana Galizia Murder Case
The long-awaited trial of Yorgen Fenech, a 44-year-old Maltese businessman and heir to a major real-estate empire, has finally opened in a Valletta courtroom. He stands accused of orchestrating the 2017 assassination of journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia, who was killed by a car bomb after investigating corruption at the highest levels of Maltese politics and business.
Fenech was taken into custody in 2019 aboard his yacht, reportedly attempting to flee the country after his name surfaced in connection with the murder. Prosecutors label him the "mastermind" of the plot, charging him with complicity in homicide and participation in a criminal organization. He denies all accusations. The attorney general is seeking life imprisonment for murder with premeditation and up to 30 years for criminal-organisation membership.
He is the last of seven men to be tried for a killing that sent shockwaves across the island nation and drew international scrutiny. In June 2025, two men accused of supplying explosives, Robert Agius and Jamie Vella, were sentenced to life without parole. The Degiorgio brothers received 40-year terms for planting and detonating the bomb, while their accomplice Vince Muscat was handed a 15-year sentence.
According to the prosecution, Fenech initially approached his friend and taxi driver Melvin Theuma, asking him to organise the murder because he feared the journalist was about to publish damaging revelations about himself and an uncle. Theuma then contacted the Degiorgio brothers, agreeing on a fee of €150,000 — money he claims he received in cash inside a coffee envelope from Fenech. Theuma later received a presidential pardon in exchange for testifying against Fenech and has been under a witness-protection programme since 2019.
The start of proceedings proved difficult. Concerns over intense publicity and its possible effect on jurors meant both sides needed five hours to agree on jury selection. Authorities also had to intervene when a replacement juror fainted as temperatures hit 33°C. Under Maltese criminal law, jurors will remain isolated throughout the trial, housed in a hotel without access to mobile phones, computers or smartwatches.
The case nearly stalled just days before opening. On 25 June, Fenech filed an appeal with the Constitutional Court arguing his right to a fair hearing had been violated because of an alleged surveillance device installed in a prison meeting room where he spoke with his lawyers. The court agreed to examine the appeal but rejected his request to suspend the main trial, allowing jury selection to proceed on 1 July.
Before her death, Caruana Galizia had been probing a controversial power-station deal linked to Fenech. It later emerged that he owned the secret offshore company "17 Black," which had also been a focus of her reporting. The scandal ultimately forced Prime Minister Joseph Muscat to resign in January 2020 amid mass protests accusing him of shielding allies from investigation. A 2021 public inquiry concluded the government had fostered a "culture of impunity" in which the killers believed they could murder the journalist and escape punishment.
Caruana Galizia's husband, three sons and two sisters are attending the trial, as they did previous hearings. Her younger sister, Mandy Mallia, wrote on social media about the pain of hearing alleged recordings in which Fenech insists the journalist should not have survived the attack, and her fear that their mother might die before all those responsible are brought to justice. "Justice for Daphne cannot wait any longer," she posted. "Malta must rise to the occasion." The trial is expected to last several weeks.
Source: DW.com
Source: Google News GR — Crime (el)