The trial of Yorgen Fenech, the Maltese businessman accused of masterminding the 2017 murder of anti-corruption journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia, has finally begun in a Valletta courtroom seven years after his arrest. Fenech, 44, heir to a Maltese property empire, faces charges of complicity in homicide and criminal association.
Fenech was arrested in 2019 on his yacht as he allegedly tried to flee Malta after being linked to the car-bomb killing. The attorney general is seeking a life sentence for murder and up to 30 years for criminal association. Fenech denies the charges.
The trial nearly stalled when Fenech filed a petition claiming his right to a fair trial was violated due to an alleged listening device in a prison meeting room with his lawyers. The Constitutional Court rejected his request to suspend proceedings, and jury selection proceeded on July 1.
Jury selection took five hours amid concerns over intense media coverage, and one reserve juror fainted as temperatures reached 33°C. Under Maltese law, jurors will be sequestered for the trial's duration, housed in a hotel without phones or internet.
At the time of her death, Caruana Galizia was investigating a controversial power station deal linked to Fenech. It later emerged he owned a secretive offshore company, '17 Black,' which she had also been probing.
According to the indictment, Fenech first approached his friend, taxi driver Melvin Theuma, who then contacted brothers Alfred and George Degiorgio. Theuma claims he received €150,000 in cash from Fenech in a brown envelope. Theuma later received a presidential pardon for his testimony.
In June 2025, Robert Agius and Jamie Vella, accused of supplying explosives, were sentenced to life in prison without parole. The Degiorgio brothers are serving 40-year terms, and accomplice Vincent Muscat is serving 15 years.
Caruana Galizia's murder sparked international outrage and highlighted rule-of-law issues in the EU's smallest member state. The scandal forced Prime Minister Joseph Muscat to resign in 2020. A 2021 public inquiry found the government bore responsibility for fostering a 'state of impunity.'
Caruana Galizia's family has attended the proceedings. Her sister Mandy Mallia posted on social media: 'Justice for Daphne can't come soon enough. Malta must step up.' The trial is expected to last several weeks.
Source: www.dw.com