Fenech claims he was framed in Daphne Caruana Galizia murder trial
Yorgen Fenech, 44, told a Malta jury he had no role in the 2017 killing of journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia, accusing the PM's former chief of staff of ordering the murder.
Fenech breaks silence in murder trial, names PM's ex-chief of staff as instigator
A Maltese businessman on trial for the murder of investigative journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia told a jury he was framed by police and had nothing to do with her killing, Google News UK — Crime (en) reports, citing The Guardian.
Yorgen Fenech, 44, gave testimony in court for the first time since his arrest seven years ago, unexpectedly waiving his right under Maltese law to remain silent. Over four days of questioning by both defence and prosecution lawyers, he accused Keith Schembri — the most senior unelected official in the Maltese government at the time of the October 2017 killing — of having given the go-ahead for the murder.
"You combined Melvin Theuma's lie and a cover-up of Keith Schembri to frame me," Fenech told the court.
Fenech's defence lawyers have consistently sought to identify Schembri, who served as chief of staff to then prime minister Joseph Muscat, as the mastermind behind the assassination. When the judge, Edwina Grima, directly asked Fenech who the real instigator was, he answered: "Keith Schembri."
Police have told the jury that Schembri was never treated as a suspect. Schembri was called as a witness during the trial and has denied any involvement in the murder.
A barbecue and a plan
Fenech described a longstanding friendship with Schembri, saying the two had played football together as children and renewed ties as adults. He claimed to have spoken with Schembri most days and to have relied on him heavily.
According to Fenech, the idea of killing Caruana Galizia was first raised at a barbecue at his family ranch. The journalist had published information about Schembri's brain tumour before he had disclosed his condition to his own family.
"Keith was very emotional," Fenech told the court. "He felt very strongly about it. We had to tell him to calm down … It wasn't the first time he spoke about it, he was almost fixated with Daphne … He kept a file with all her articles."
Fenech alleged that Melvin Theuma, the self-confessed middleman also present at the barbecue, inflamed the situation further, saying of Caruana Galizia: "She'll reap what she sows."
"Then I was in the kitchen and Melvin came up to me and said 'we can easily get rid of her'," Fenech said. "It seemed a bit over the top, so I played it down and offered him a drink."
"Go ahead, go ahead, go ahead"
Fenech said Theuma raised the subject again two weeks later during a drive to the airport, telling him that people were already working on an active plan to kill Caruana Galizia and were asking for €120,000.
"At first I wasn't going to tell Keith, but it kept playing in my mind and then I decided to tell him," Fenech said. "He said 'go ahead, go ahead, go ahead.' For Keith it was pure revenge, because he'd say she crossed a line by writing about personal matters."
The prosecution's case rests on the testimony of Theuma, a taxi driver who alleges Fenech paid him €150,000 (£128,000) to hire the three men subsequently convicted of planting the fatal car bomb. Two brothers, George and Alfred Degiorgio, and their associate Vincent Muscat were arrested on 4 December 2017. All three have since been convicted of the murder; Muscat confessed his involvement in exchange for a reduced sentence.
Advance warnings and leaked intelligence
Fenech claimed Schembri repeatedly passed him sensitive information, including advance notice of police raids and arrests. He alleged Schembri also shared a screenshot of a confidential Europol report listing potential suspects — Europol had been assisting Maltese police with the investigation.
After the murder, Fenech said, Schembri used him as a go-between to relay messages to Theuma, including warnings intended to alert the hired killers to their impending arrest.
"I went back to Melvin and told him that the arrest date was set for 4 December," Fenech said.
Fenech also alleged that Schembri warned him of Theuma's own arrest in 2019.
Blackmail, debt and addiction
The prosecution has presented a series of recordings made by Theuma of conversations with Fenech after the killing, in which the two discussed the crime and police leaks. Fenech told the court those recordings had been used to extort him.
"Melvin used recorded calls as blackmail," he said. "Keith got to know and panicked."
Fenech said he had handed over €400,000 to Theuma intended for the Degiorgio brothers' legal costs. He described the toll the case had taken on his personal life.
"It drove me to drug addiction," he said. "I spent my life being against drugs, seeing my brother abusing drugs. And I ended up taking drugs myself."
Challenging Fenech's account, prosecution lawyer Godwin Cini asked whether Fenech himself was the one who held the real power, not Theuma. The judge later asked why Theuma would have felt he had power over Fenech. Fenech replied: "He knows who the real mastermind is."
Source: Google News UK — Crime (en)