Malta Court Acquits Businessman Yorgen Fenech in Landmark Daphne Caruana Galizia Murder Trial

A court in Malta has acquitted businessman Yorgen Fenech of masterminding the murder of prominent anticorruption journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia. Fenech, 44, was cleared on Wednesday at the conclusion of a jury trial where he faced charges of complicity to murder and the lesser charge of criminal association to commit murder, which could have carried a life sentence.

Following eight hours of deliberation, the jury returned an 8-1 verdict clearing Fenech of both counts, prompting the family of Daphne Caruana Galizia—including her sons Matthew, Andrew and Paul—to weep in the packed Valletta courtroom. In a subsequent statement, the slain reporter's family stated that nine years after her brutal assassination, the institutional failures enabling her death remain unaddressed, adding that their country failed to protect her life.

Meanwhile, members of Fenech's family celebrated the jury's decision. The October 2017 killing of Daphne Caruana Galizia shocked Europe’s journalist community, sparked a political firestorm in Malta, and drew international scrutiny toward the nation's police and judiciary. Often described as a "one-woman WikiLeaks," Daphne Caruana Galizia was 53 when she was killed after exposing high-level corruption and links between Malta’s business and political elites.

Prosecutors maintained that Fenech ordered the assassination to prevent her from publishing information about him. While Fenech denied the accusations, his defense attorneys pointed toward his former friend Keith Schembri, who served as chief of staff to then-Prime Minister Joseph Muscat and was frequently targeted in Daphne Caruana Galizia’s blogs. Although Keith Schembri has denied any involvement and police stated he was never a suspect, the political fallout from the assassination ultimately forced Joseph Muscat to step down in January 2020. An independent inquiry conducted in 2021 further concluded that Maltese officials failed to adequately protect Daphne Caruana Galizia from threats prior to her death.