Malta: Contract killing trial opens for journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia
The trial of Maltese property tycoon Yorgen Fenech opened in Valletta, with prosecutors alleging he paid €150,000 to have journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia assassinated in 2017.
Malta: Contract killing trial opens for journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia
The long-awaited trial of Yorgen Fenech, a 44-year-old Maltese property heir, began on Wednesday morning at the courts in Valletta. Prosecutors accuse him of masterminding the 2017 murder of investigative journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia by arranging a €150,000 contract killing.
According to Η Εφημερίδα των Συντακτών, the indictment was read to jurors after a five-hour selection process. Fenech faces charges of complicity in premeditated homicide and participation in a criminal association. He is the last of seven men to stand trial; five have already been convicted, while one turned state witness.
Caruana Galizia, a 53-year-old newspaper editor and blogger, was killed on 16 October 2017 when a powerful explosive device detonated in her Peugeot 108 as she drove away from her home in Bidnija. Her son Matthew was the first to reach the scene and discovered her remains inside the burning vehicle.
The prosecution told the court that Fenech, whose family empire includes the Hilton Malta hotel and casino, grew alarmed that Caruana Galizia was about to publish damaging revelations about his uncle. In April 2017, he allegedly telephoned his friend Melvin Theuma, a taxi driver and fuel smuggler, and asked him to find someone willing to carry out the killing.
Theuma allegedly introduced Fenech to brothers George and Alfred Degiorgio, known figures in Malta's criminal underworld who operated from a warehouse in Marsa opposite the Grand Harbour. A fee of €150,000 was agreed, with €30,000 paid upfront. The plan was reportedly paused when early elections were called for June 2017, but resumed shortly after the Labour government's re-election. Prosecutors claim Fenech personally handed Theuma an envelope containing the cash.
The hit team initially considered using a firearm but ultimately opted for a car bomb. The device, concealed inside a children's shoebox placed beneath the driver's seat, was triggered remotely by mobile phone while George Degiorgio was aboard his boat in the harbour. The previous night, the perpetrators had broken into Caruana Galizia's vehicle after weeks of surveillance.
Days after the murder, Alfred Degiorgio allegedly visited Theuma's garage to collect the remaining payment. Theuma reportedly gave him an additional €5,000 for expenses, including the purchase of designer sunglasses. Prosecutors also allege Fenech later paid "tens of thousands" in legal fees for the Degiorgio brothers after their arrest on 4 December 2017.
Theuma was himself arrested in November 2019 carrying an ice-cream box containing USB drives with what he claimed were secretly recorded conversations with Fenech. The defence disputes the authenticity of these recordings, arguing they contain "half-truths and outright lies."
The trial is being held under strict conditions: jurors are sequestered in a hotel without access to computers, smartphones or smartwatches, in accordance with Maltese law.
Source: Google News GR — Crime (el)