Trial opens in Malta for alleged mastermind of journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia murder

Businessman Yorgen Fenech stands trial in Malta, accused of ordering the 2017 car-bomb killing of investigative journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia.

Trial opens in Malta for alleged mastermind of journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia murder

The trial of Yorgen Fenech, a Maltese businessman accused of ordering the assassination of investigative journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia, began on Wednesday in Malta.

Fenech appeared in court alongside other defendants, according to the Times of Malta. He was arrested in late 2019 aboard his yacht as he attempted to leave the country.

Galizia, aged 53, died on October 16, 2017, when a bomb placed inside her vehicle detonated near her home in Bidnija. Her killing sent shockwaves across the globe and exposed deep-rooted corruption at the highest levels of Maltese society.

Before her death, Galizia had been reporting on allegations of graft involving senior officials and business figures in Malta. She had also contributed to the massive international investigation known as the Panama Papers, which revealed how wealthy individuals used offshore tax havens.

Fenech had secured a lucrative government contract in 2013 to build a gas-fired power station. Galizia's reporting had examined suspicious ties between the corporate world and the political elite of the Mediterranean island nation.

On December 1, 2019, then-prime minister Joseph Muscat announced his resignation under mounting public pressure. He faced accusations of shielding associates from scrutiny during the murder investigation.

Paul Caruana Galizia, one of the journalist's sons, posted on X: "Nine years after my mother's murder, the man accused of ordering her killing is in court."

The family's lawyer, Jason Azzopardi, confirmed the start of proceedings to the French Press Agency.

Source: efsyn.gr

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