Businessman acquitted in murder plot

Prominent Maltese businessman Yorgen Fenech was found not guilty of ordering and funding the 2017 car bomb killing of investigative reporter Daphne Caruana Galizia.

Target of anti-corruption journalism

Caruana Galizia spent years exposing offshore tax havens and political corruption in Malta. She faced over 40 libel suits before a car bomb killed her near her home.

State blamed for enabling murder

A 2021 independent inquiry concluded that the Maltese government bore responsibility for the assassination after fostering a culture of impunity from the highest levels.

“the Maltese state "has to bear responsibility" for the assassination due to a culture of impunity that emanated from the highest levels of government.”

Protests forced political fallout

Fenech was arrested in 2019 while attempting to sail away on his yacht. The high-profile arrest triggered widespread public outrage that forced Prime Minister Joseph Muscat to resign.

Hitmen sentenced to decades in prison

Five men involved in executing the plot were convicted, including two brothers sentenced to 40 years each and bomb suppliers given life terms. A middleman received a presidential pardon.

Family decries lack of justice

Caruana Galizia's sons condemned the verdict, emphasizing that institutional failures enabling her assassination remain unaddressed nearly a decade later.

“Nine years after Daphne's brutal assassination, the institutional failures that enabled her murder remain unaddressed and unreformed.”