Jury verdict and first reactions in the courtroom

In Malta, Yorgen Fenech has been acquitted of complicity in the killing of investigative journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia and of conspiracy to commit murder. According to Reuters, the jury reached its decision by an 8-1 vote after eight hours of deliberation.

The 44-year-old businessman denied all charges against him throughout the trial. After the verdict was announced in the Valletta courtroom, Fenech's relatives broke into celebration, while Caruana Galizia's family was left in tears.

Background to the killing and key allegations in the case

Daphne Caruana Galizia was widely known beyond Malta for her reporting on corruption, money laundering and links to organized crime. The journalist, who published her work on her Running Commentary blog, also contributed to the 2016 Panama Papers investigation.

She was killed in October 2017 when a bomb planted in her car exploded. During the trial, the jury heard allegations that Fenech wanted to silence the journalist because she was about to publish information about him.

Political links and the defense

Fenech, one of Malta's wealthiest businessmen, owned a company that Caruana Galizia had written about months before her death. During the trial, the defendant shifted responsibility to his former close friend Keith Schembri.

Schembri was the chief of staff to then-Prime Minister Joseph Muscat and was among the names mentioned in the journalist's reporting. Police told the court that Schembri was never a suspect, and Schembri also denied any role in the murder. Muscat was not linked to the killing, but resigned in January 2020 after the political fallout from the assassination.

Earlier convictions and the family's response

Maltese courts had already handed down prison sentences to other figures connected to the murder.

  • In 2022, brothers George and Alfred Degiorgio were each sentenced to 40 years in prison for Caruana Galizia's killing.
  • In 2025, Robert Agius and Jamie Vella were sentenced to life in prison for supplying the bomb.

In a statement reported by local media, Caruana Galizia's family said the institutional failures that made the journalist's murder possible had still not been addressed. The family said that, for lasting justice, no one else should ever be exposed to similar risks again.