Malta Court Clears Businessman Over Murder of Journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia

A Maltese jury delivered an unexpected verdict on Wednesday, 2 September 2026, acquitting billionaire tycoon Yorgen Fenech of masterminding the 2017 car-bomb assassination of investigative journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia, as reported by chronicle.lu and arabnews.com. Emotions fractured inside the packed Valletta courtroom as Fenech’s family members screamed with delight while the relatives of the slain journalist wept silently. Fenech departed the courthouse under a heavy police escort through a hostile crowd hurling insults, leaving behind a profound institutional crisis on the European Union's smallest member state.

The 44-year-old businessman, who inherited a property empire encompassing hotels and casinos, stood trial for two months facing charges of complicity to murder and the lesser charge of criminal association to commit murder, which together carried a maximum penalty of life imprisonment. After roughly eight hours of deliberation, the jury cleared Fenech on both counts by an 8–1 margin. Following the decision, the prosecution announced an immediate intention to appeal the verdict, as reported by Europeanjournalists and the Media Freedom Rapid Response partners.

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Caruana Galizia was 53 years old when a car bomb killed her near her home on 16 October 2017. Known widely as a fearless anti-corruption reporter, she had reported extensively on high-level corruption linking Malta’s business and political elites, including targets tied to the Panama Papers leak and a controversial power station contract awarded to a consortium that included Fenech. Her brutal killing shocked Europe, triggered massive public protests, and led to the January 2020 resignation of then-prime minister Joseph Muscat amid intense anger over his government's perceived efforts to shield allies from the investigation, according to arabnews.com and Europeaninterest.

Fenech was arrested in 2019 aboard his yacht while attempting to flee Malta, shortly after a confessed middleman in the plot, taxi driver Melvin Theuma, received a presidential pardon in exchange for turning state's evidence. Prosecutors maintained that Fenech ordered and financed the assassination because the journalist was on the verge of publishing compromising information. Fenech maintained his innocence throughout the proceedings. During the trial, according to chronicle.lu, his defense team pointed suspicion toward Keith Schembri, Muscat’s former chief of staff and a frequent target of Caruana Galizia's blog. Police investigators testified during the trial that Schembri had never been a formal suspect, and Schembri has consistently denied any involvement in the murder.

Giannella de Marco, defense counsel for Fenech, expressed satisfaction that justice had prevailed, stating according to chronicle.lu and Eualive that the jurors clearly distrusted the state's turncoat middleman and suspected other unnamed actors were involved. Conversely, the verdict provoked fierce domestic and international condemnation. Matthew Caruana Galizia called the outcome a terrible decision... that our country may never recover from, according to arabnews.com. In an official statement reported by chronicle.lu and eualive.net, the victim's family asserted that the ruling denied her the justice she deserves and underscored that systemic failures remain unaddressed:

"Nine years after Daphne’s brutal assassination, the institutional failures that enabled her murder remain unaddressed and unreformed. Our country failed to protect Daphne’s life. It owes it to her to prevent other lives being lost."

Daphne Caruana Galizia's family, via Chronicle

International press freedom organizations echoed the family's outrage. The European Centre for Press and Media Freedom expressed profound disappointment, noting that the case stands as a landmark for media freedom across Europe. Reporters Without Borders declared itself beyond outraged by the authorities' failure to secure accountability nearly a decade after the attack, as detailed by Arabnews and eualive.net. The Committee to Protect Journalists similarly reaffirmed its backing for the devastated family's ongoing quest for justice.

While Fenech is the last of the six individuals charged in connection with the conspiracy to face trial, five other co-conspirators have previously been convicted and sentenced:

• Vincent Muscat: Pled guilty in 2021 and received a 15-year prison sentence.
• George and Alfred Degiorgio: Pled guilty in 2022 to carrying out the execution and received 40-year sentences each.
• Robert Agius and Jamie Vella: Convicted in June 2025 for supplying the bomb that killed the journalist, both received life sentences.

The latest courtroom defeat compounds longstanding criticisms of Malta’s judiciary and governance. A public inquiry report published in July 2021 concluded that the Maltese state bore responsibility for the assassination because it fostered a dangerous atmosphere of impunity and subjected Caruana Galizia to intense abuse from politicians. Although the Maltese government stated it took note of the verdict and remained committed to ensuring justice is served, the immediate legal battle now shifts to the upper courts as prosecutors pursue their announced appeal, leaving the ultimate quest for accountability in the hands of the appellate judges.