The trial of Yorgen Fenech, a businessman arrested seven years ago for the 2017 murder of investigative journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia, has commenced in Malta.

Fenech, 44, was arrested on a yacht off Malta in 2019, which prosecutors claim was an attempted escape. He is charged with orchestrating the assassination of the 53-year-old journalist, one of Malta's most prominent investigative reporters.

At the time of her death, Caruana Galizia was investigating corruption and kickback allegations linked to an offshore company called “17 Black.” Following the murder, it was revealed that Fenech was the owner of 17 Black.

“Nine years after my mother’s murder, the man accused of commissioning it stands trial,” the journalist’s son, Paul Caruana Galizia, wrote on social media. Caruana Galizia was killed when a bomb placed in her car exploded as she drove away from her home.

Prosecutors allege that Fenech commissioned former taxi driver Melvin Theuma to find someone to carry out the murder. Theuma confessed to hiring three men to execute the bombing, claiming he received $170,000 from Fenech as payment.

The three men who carried out the bombing were arrested weeks after the murder and pleaded guilty at the start of their trial. Two men who supplied the bomb were given life sentences in 2025, while a third received a reduced sentence for providing information.

“This historic trial must expose the truth about the despicable criminal plot and the deadly chain of events that led to the execution of a journalist within the European Union,” said media freedom watchdog Reporters Without Borders.

The killing led to the resignation of then-Prime Minister Joseph Muscat in 2020 following mass protests over his government’s handling of the investigation. A public inquiry in 2021 concluded that the state “shouldered responsibility” for the murder due to the “atmosphere of impunity” created by the government.

Fenech has denied the charges. His trial is expected to last several weeks.

Source: www.aljazeera.com