Nearly nine years after a car bomb killed one of Malta’s most fearless anti-corruption journalists, the final high-profile chapter of the case has begun in the capital city of Valletta, where 44-year-old Maltese entrepreneur Yorgen Fenech has stood trial on charges of orchestrating the 2017 assassination of Daphne Caruana Galizia.
Daphne Caruana Galizia, an investigative reporter whose work exposed deep-seated government-linked corruption networks across Malta and beyond, was killed instantly when a bomb detonated in her vehicle in October 2017. Her murder sparked widespread public outrage across the island nation and drew global condemnation from press freedom advocates and world leaders alike, shaking Malta’s political establishment to its core.
Fenech, the key remaining defendant in the case, has been charged with complicity in the intentional homicide of Caruana Galizia and participation in a criminal conspiracy formed to carry out her murder. He has formally denied all charges brought against him, rejecting any allegation of involvement in the journalist’s killing.
The trial opened on Wednesday with the swearing in of a jury for the public proceedings, a milestone that comes after years of prior legal action that has already secured convictions against four other co-conspirators. In 2022, brothers George and Alfred Degiorgio, who admitted to carrying out the car bombing, were sentenced to 40 years in prison for their role in the killing. Three years later, in 2025, Robert Agius and Jamie Vella received life sentences for supplying the explosive device used in the attack. A fifth co-defendant, Vincent Muscat, was granted a full pardon in exchange for cooperating with prosecutors and providing key testimony against the other co-accused.
Members of Caruana Galizia’s immediate family, including her three sons, were present in the Valletta courthouse to observe the opening of Fenech’s trial. As of the first day of proceedings, no on-the-record statements from Fenech have been released publicly. Legal observers project that the trial will stretch over multiple weeks as prosecutors present evidence and the defense builds its case.