Yorgen Fenech goes on trial in Malta over Daphne Caruana Galizia killing
The businessman denies charges that he commissioned the 2017 car bombing of the investigative journalist, whose murder shook Malta.
By Lucas Ferreira · Science & Environment Writer
2 min read
Maltese businessman Yorgen Fenech has gone on trial over the 2017 killing of investigative journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia, Reuters and The Associated Press reported. The case matters in Malta and across the European Union because prosecutors say a prominent journalist was assassinated while investigating corruption allegations.
Fenech, 44, is accused of ordering Caruana Galizia’s murder. He has denied the charges, and the trial is expected to run for several weeks, according to Reuters and AP.
Caruana Galizia, 53, was killed when a bomb planted in her car exploded as she drove away from her home on the Mediterranean island. She was one of Malta’s best-known journalists and had been reporting on allegations of corruption and kickbacks linked to an offshore company called 17 Black, Reuters and AP reported.
After the murder, it emerged that Fenech owned 17 Black, according to Reuters and AP. Prosecutors allege he arranged the killing through Melvin Theuma, a former taxi driver, who was asked to find people to carry it out.
Theuma later admitted hiring three men for the bombing and told authorities he received $170,000 from Fenech as payment, Reuters and AP reported. Three men accused of carrying out the attack were arrested weeks after Caruana Galizia was killed and later pleaded guilty at the start of their trial.
Two men who supplied the bomb were sentenced to life in prison in 2025, according to Reuters and AP. A third accused person received a reduced sentence in exchange for providing information.
Fenech was arrested in 2019 on a yacht off Malta. Prosecutors described the circumstances as an attempt to flee, Reuters and AP reported.
Paul Caruana Galizia, the journalist’s son, wrote on social media on Wednesday: “Nine years after my mother’s murder, the man accused of commissioning it stands trial.”
Reporters Without Borders said at the start of the trial that the proceedings should establish what happened. “This historic trial must expose the truth about the despicable criminal plot and the deadly chain of events that led to the execution of a journalist within the European Union,” the media freedom group said.
The killing triggered a political crisis in Malta. Reuters and AP reported that then-Prime Minister Joseph Muscat resigned in 2020 after mass protests over his government’s handling of the investigation.
A public inquiry published in 2021 concluded that the Maltese state “shouldered responsibility” for Caruana Galizia’s murder because of an “atmosphere of impunity” created by the government, according to Reuters and AP.
This story draws on original reporting from Al Jazeera.