# Malta Acquits Businessman Accused in Journalist's Car Bombing

> A jury acquitted Yorgen Fenech in the 2017 murder of Daphne Caruana Galizia, leaving the suspected mastermind behind her death unpunished.
- Title: Malta Acquits Businessman Accused in Journalist's Car Bombing
- Summary: A jury acquitted Yorgen Fenech in the 2017 murder of Daphne Caruana Galizia, leaving the suspected mastermind behind her death unpunished. While several…
- Keywords: malta, press freedom, justice, journalism, europe, news, Acquits, Businessman, Accused, Journalist's, Car, Bombing
- Source: NPR — https://www.npr.org/2026/09/02/nx-s1-5954420/daphne-caruana-galizia-case-yorgen-fenech-acquitted-malta
- Read time: 1 min
- Topics: malta, press freedom, justice, journalism, europe, news
## 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.
## Key takeaway

While several hitmen were convicted in the murder of Daphne Caruana Galizia, the alleged mastermind walked free, raising ongoing concerns about impunity in Malta.