Galizia murder trial: Alleged mastermind accused of paying €150,000 for assassination

In Malta, businessman Yorgen Fenech stands trial for allegedly ordering the murder of investigative journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia. Prosecutors claim he paid €150,000 to have her killed.

Galizia murder trial: Alleged mastermind accused of paying €150,000 for assassination

In Valletta, the trial of a wealthy Maltese entrepreneur accused of orchestrating the 2017 car-bomb killing of journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia has opened. Prosecutors told the court that Yorgen Fenech handed over €150,000 in cash to finance the hit.

The indictment, reported by n-tv, states that Fenech asked a go-between to recruit individuals willing to "take out" the reporter. The money was allegedly passed through this middleman to the execution team.

Caruana Galizia, 53, died on 16 October 2017 near her Bidnija residence when explosives hidden in her vehicle were detonated. She had built a reputation for exposing graft, illicit financial flows, and abuses of power at the highest levels of Maltese society. Her assassination triggered demonstrations that eventually forced Prime Minister Joseph Muscat from office in January 2020.

Five co-defendants have already been sentenced. The Degiorgio siblings and Vince Muscat, who planted and triggered the device, are behind bars. Robert Agius and Jamie Vella were handed life terms in June 2025 for procuring the bomb materials.

Fenech, who denies involvement, was taken into custody in 2019 while trying to sail away from Malta aboard his private yacht. Years earlier, he had won a lucrative state contract to construct a gas-fired electricity plant. The hearings are expected to run for several weeks.

An independent inquiry published in 2021 found that Maltese authorities had fostered an environment in which attacks on reporters could go unpunished.

Source: n-tv