Outrage in Malta as Businessman Acquitted in Journalist's Murder Case
A Maltese court acquitted businessman Yorgen Fenech of ordering the 2017 murder of investigative journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia, sparking outrage from her family and the public. The question of who commissioned her killing remains unanswered nearly nine years later.
An angry crowd greeted Yorgen Fenech with shouts of "murderer" and "mafia" as he left a Valletta courthouse on Wednesday evening, minutes after a jury acquitted the 44-year-old businessman of ordering the murder of investigative journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia. Eight of nine jurors rejected the prosecution's claim that Fenech had commissioned the October 16, 2017 car bomb attack that killed the 53-year-old.
Caruana Galizia's son, Matthew, called the verdict a "terrible decision by the jurors that our country may never recover from," later describing it on Facebook as "obscene" and contrary to all evidence, logic and truth.
A long road to trial
The men who obtained the bomb, planted it under the car seat and detonated it remotely have already been convicted. But the person who allegedly contracted them has never been legally identified. Fenech was dramatically arrested aboard his yacht in November 2019, triggering nationwide protests and suspicion of government involvement that contributed to then-Prime Minister Joseph Muscat's resignation in January 2020. Fenech spent over five years in detention before being released on bail in early 2025, with his trial only starting this summer.
The prosecution's case rested largely on testimony from Melvin Theuma, a self-confessed middleman who received a pardon for cooperating and testified that Fenech had hired him. Fenech's defense challenged Theuma's credibility over contradictions and past false statements, and argued that evidence implicating Keith Schembri, Muscat's former chief of staff, was never properly pursued. Schembri has denied involvement and was not charged.
Systemic concerns remain
A 2021 public inquiry concluded that an "atmosphere of impunity" in Malta had made the murder possible. Since then, Malta has introduced reforms, but the European Commission says progress remains limited, particularly on press freedom protections — a long-awaited media reform bill failed to pass before early elections in May 2026. A foundation report also found that 46% of homicide cases brought to trial between 2010 and 2020 remained unresolved by mid-2025, pointing to broader delays in the justice system.
Judge Edwina Grima has ordered that trial evidence be forwarded to the police chief, who will decide whether to pursue charges against others. The Institute of Maltese Journalists has urged authorities to pursue every lead raised during the trial, including those pointing to former senior politicians, stressing that the acquittal does not close the case.
