Malta: Businessman Jorgen Fenech acquitted of complicity in the murder of journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia

Maltese businessman Jorgen Fenech, who was accused of ordering the murder of investigative journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia, was acquitted today at the end of a two-month trial, Reuters news agency reports.

Fenek (44) was tried for complicity in murder and the lesser offense of criminal association to commit murder. If convicted, he could have been sentenced to life in prison.

The jury, after eight hours of deliberation, acquitted him on both counts by a vote of eight to one.

The murder of Caruana Galizia in October 2017 shook Europe and caused a political storm in Malta, while also focusing international attention on the police and judiciary there.

Members of Fenech's family screamed with joy, while Caruana Galizia's relatives cried in a packed courtroom in Valletta, Reuters reports.

"Nine years after Daphne's brutal murder, the institutional failures that enabled her murder have still not been addressed nor have institutions been reformed. Lasting justice means that no person should ever face the same risks again. Our state failed to protect Daphne's life. It owes it to her to prevent other lives from being lost," her family said.

Insults on the way out of court

Fenek made no statement as he left the courtroom, surrounded by heavy police security, while the crowd hurled insults at him. Fenek, the heir to a real estate empire that includes hotels and casinos, was arrested in 2019.

Three men were convicted of murder, and two more of supplying a bomb, after earlier trials, and are now serving long prison sentences.

Gianella de Marco, Fenech's lawyer, said she was pleased that justice had prevailed.

As she stated, the jurors showed that they did not believe the intermediary in the murder conspiracy, who agreed to testify for the prosecution, and that they suspected that someone else was involved in the case.

"These people recognized who was lying," she said.

The jury heard during the trial that Fenech, the alleged mastermind of the plot, wanted Caruana Galizia killed because she intended to publish information about him. She was 53 when she was killed.

Fenech denied the charges, and his defense during the trial pointed the finger at his once close friend Keith Schembri, former chief of staff to then-Prime Minister of Malta Joseph Muscat and one of the targets of Caruana Galizia's blog posts.

Muscat, who was never linked to the murder, resigned in January 2020 due to the political fallout caused by the murder.

Police told the court that Schembri was never a suspect, and he denied any role in the murder.