A Maltese jury on Wednesday acquitted businessman Yorgen Fenech, who had been accused of masterminding the 2017 car bomb assassination of investigative journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia. Fenech had been indicted in 2021 on charges of complicity and criminal conspiracy, with prosecutors alleging he ordered and paid for the slaying. He pleaded not guilty to both counts.
Caruana Galizia's killing on Oct. 16, 2017, sent shockwaves across Europe and triggered protests that led to the resignation of then-Prime Minister Joseph Muscat. The journalist, 53, was killed by a car bomb detonated near her home. She had extensively reported on suspected corruption within Malta's political and business circles, including allegations of offshore companies in tax havens revealed in the Panama Papers leak, and had faced numerous libel suits at the time of her death.
An independent inquiry in 2021 concluded that the Maltese state bore responsibility for the assassination due to a "culture of impunity" at the highest levels of government. Fenech was reportedly involved in a controversial government contract to build a power station.
Fenech's arrest in 2019 as he attempted to leave Malta on his yacht preceded mass protests that ultimately led to Muscat's resignation. Following his acquittal on Wednesday, Fenech left the courtroom amid a chaotic scene outside, making no comment.
Caruana Galizia's children, who had been prominent in the demand for accountability, were present for the verdict. In a statement released later on Facebook, the family stated that the verdict denied Caruana Galizia "the justice she deserves." They added that "institutional failures that enabled her murder remain unaddressed and unreformed," and that "Our country failed to protect Daphne. It owes it to her to prevent other lives being lost."
Fenech was the final individual charged in the plot to face trial. In 2022, brothers George and Alfred Degiorgio pleaded guilty to carrying out the slaying and were each sentenced to 40 years in prison. Two other men, Jamie Vella and Robert Agius, were convicted of complicity in the murder and sentenced to life in prison in 2025. Vincent Muscat pleaded guilty in 2021 to his role in the killing and received a 15-year sentence. Taxi driver Melvin Theuma, a self-confessed middleman, was granted a presidential pardon in 2019 in exchange for testimony.