The son of murdered Maltese journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia has testified in court that his mother was actively investigating high-level corruption involving businessman Yorgen Fenech and senior government officials at the time of her assassination. Matthew Caruana Galizia, a software engineer and Pulitzer Prize-winning investigator, took the stand on Monday to recount the events leading up to the October 2017 car bombing that killed his mother.
Yorgen Fenech, the heir to one of Malta’s most prominent fortunes, is currently on trial. He is accused of commissioning and funding the fatal car bomb attack. Fenech has denied the charges of complicity in voluntary homicide.
During his testimony, Matthew described how he became deeply involved in assisting his mother with her investigative work. He recalled that as their joint research uncovered more details, it felt as though a "portal" had opened, allowing him to "see into hell." The defense objected to this characterization, with the judge reminding the witness that he was expressing an opinion rather than presenting documented facts.
According to Matthew, his mother was analyzing a massive data leak from Electrogas, an energy company partly owned by Fenech, when she was killed. The company had won a major contract to privatize a key portion of Malta’s electricity infrastructure, a flagship project of the Joseph Muscat-led government following its 2013 general election victory. Matthew testified that after organizing the leaked emails into a searchable database, he discovered that Fenech was central to the entire operation, appearing in countless emails.
“Factually, what did your mother tell you about the tendering process?” the prosecutor asked. Matthew replied: “That it was corrupt.” The judge interjected to remind the witness that this was an opinion, not a fact. The court had previously ordered that Monday's testimony focus strictly on what could be supported by documents presented in the courtroom, meaning certain broader allegations were not repeated.
The court also heard about earlier investigations into offshore tax havens. In 2015, Matthew worked on the Panama Papers leak, uploading millions of files to help international journalists. He testified that data from that leak, combined with Daphne’s independent sources, showed that Malta’s former energy minister, Konrad Mizzi, and the prime minister’s chief of staff, Keith Schembri, had established offshore companies shortly after taking office. An accounting firm was helping them set up bank accounts for those entities.
To illustrate his mother's perspective, the jury was shown an online comment Daphne wrote in early 2017 beneath an article about Mizzi and Schembri. She wrote: "How unbelievably corrupt they are – and worse still, they were not tempted into corruption when they were already jaded in power, but actually got into power with the express purpose of being corrupt. It was their roadmap." Mizzi, Schembri, and Fenech have all consistently denied any allegations of corruption.
The prosecution concluded its questioning by asking Matthew to describe the day of the bombing. He recalled working at home with his mother, who had made a mozzarella and tomato salad before leaving the house to go to the bank. Shortly after her departure, Matthew heard an explosion.
"I was working on some software and I heard an explosion. I opened the door, I felt the blood drain away … I started walking faster and faster towards the tower of smoke," Matthew told the court. “First I saw fire on the road – the road was on fire. I saw pieces of metal and flesh. My eyes followed the smoke and I saw a huge ball of fire. I ran towards it. The horn was going off, it wouldn’t stop. I saw a shadow in the car and I remember saying ‘that’s my mum’.”
Matthew explained that the tragedy forced him to abandon his career, leave his job, and return to Malta to dedicate his life to seeking justice. "We had to make it our mission, which we did. It came at enormous personal cost," he said. The trial of Fenech is ongoing.
