A jury in Malta on Wednesday acquitted prominent businessman Yorgen Fenech of all charges related to the 2017 car bomb assassination of investigative journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia. Fenech, who was indicted in 2021 on charges of complicity and criminal conspiracy, had been accused by prosecutors of masterminding, ordering, and funding the slaying. He pleaded not guilty, and the jury cleared him on both counts, concluding the prosecution of the last of six individuals charged in connection with the murder plot.
Following the reading of the verdict, Fenech walked out of the Valletta courtroom into a chaotic scene outside, where hecklers shouted at him as he entered a waiting vehicle without making any comments. In accordance with standard procedures for Maltese criminal trials, no cameras were permitted inside the courtroom. Caruana Galizia's sons were present for the verdict but departed the building in silence.
Caruana Galizia, 53, was assassinated on October 16, 2017, when a car bomb detonated while she was driving near her home. She was well-known for her rigorous anti-corruption reporting, which targeted political and business figures in Malta. Her work focused heavily on individuals within the inner circle of then-Prime Prime Minister Joseph Muscat, whom she accused of holding offshore accounts in tax havens exposed by the Panama Papers leak. She also targeted opposition figures and business leaders, and was facing more than 40 libel lawsuits at the time of her death.
The journalist's murder shocked Europe, exposed a deep-seated culture of impunity in the European Union's smallest member state, and triggered massive public protests. Fenech's arrest in 2019, which occurred as he attempted to sail away from Malta on his yacht, intensified these demonstrations and ultimately forced Prime Minister Muscat to resign. Fenech was part of a business consortium that had secured a controversial government contract to build a power station. In 2021, an independent public inquiry concluded that the Maltese state must bear responsibility for the assassination, finding that a culture of impunity had emanated from the highest levels of government.
Reacting to Wednesday's verdict, Caruana Galizia’s family released a statement on Facebook, asserting that the decision denied the slain journalist the justice she deserved. "Nine years after Daphne’s brutal assassination, the institutional failures that enabled her murder remain unaddressed and unreformed. Lasting justice means no person should ever face the same risks again," the family wrote. "Our country failed to protect Daphne. It owes it to her to prevent other lives being lost."
While Fenech was acquitted, five other individuals have been convicted for their roles in the conspiracy. In 2022, brothers George and Alfred Degiorgio pleaded guilty to executing the murder and were sentenced to 40 years in prison. In 2025, Jamie Vella and Robert Agius received life sentences, the maximum possible penalty, after being convicted of complicity for supplying the bomb. Vincent Muscat pleaded guilty in 2021 and was sentenced to 15 years in prison, while Melvin Theuma, a self-confessed middleman who worked as a taxi driver, was granted a presidential pardon in 2019 in exchange for providing crucial testimony.
