The acquittal of businessman Yorgen Fenech leaves Daphne Caruana Galizia's family without an answer as to who ordered the journalist's murder, nine years after her death. A jury in Valletta, the Maltese capital, declared the businessman not guilty on Wednesday of the two charges of conspiracy and complicity, by eight votes to one. The family has stated that “justice means that no person should ever face the same risks again.” Faced with the lack of knowledge of who ordered the murder, they regret that: "Our country did not protect Daphne's life. It has the obligation to prevent more lives from being lost."
Fenech left the court to the shouts of those present who called him a “murderer”, “garbage” and “mafia”. A few meters away, Caruana Galizia's three children and her husband left the building in silence, without making any statements. Hours later, the family released a statement in which they stated that the acquittal leaves open questions about corruption and accountability. He also maintained that, had she not been murdered, the journalist would have investigated corruption links between Fenech and then Energy Minister Konrad Mizzi, as well as the Prime Minister's chief of staff, Keith Schembri.
The family has also had another battle in court since 2017. When she was murdered, Caruana Galizia had more than 40 defamation lawsuits open related to her investigations. In Malta, these claims can be inherited, so her children and her husband have had to take on her defense and continue the proceedings on her behalf.
In 2019, Maltese Melvin Theuma was arrested for money laundering. In exchange for a pardon, this taxi driver by profession confessed to being the intermediary in the plan to murder the journalist and pointed out Fenech as the person who commissioned the crime. The businessman was arrested when he tried to leave Malta on his private yacht. The crisis caused massive demonstrations on the island and led to several resignations in the government, including the departure of Prime Minister Joseph Muscat, also a Labor Party, in January 2020.
Maltese civil society shares this demand. Repubblika and Occupy Justice, two organizations that defend human rights and democracy, have demanded responsibilities and have pointed out that the verdict leaves open questions about corruption, impunity, political interference and the deficiencies of the State unanswered. Repubblika has called in a statement through its spokesperson for a “national review of justice” into the corruption case in which the informant was working. The Institute of Maltese Journalists has also expressed its disappointment and has demanded that the police exhaust all lines of investigation, including those that may affect former political leaders.
The opposition has also demanded explanations. Alex Borg, leader of the Nationalist Party, has called for a silent demonstration in front of Parliament and has called for an urgent session to debate the outcome of the trial. Borg has maintained that the case cannot be considered closed and has questioned the State's performance in the investigation.
The Maltese Government, led since 2020 by the Labor Party Robert Abela, has limited itself to indicating that it has taken note of the verdict, has called for “prudence” and has promised new reforms to the rule of law, without materializing them.
Caruana Galizia's murder is blamed on his investigations into corruption within the Maltese power. In 2016, in the wake of the Panama Papers, he revealed that the Minister of Energy and the chief of staff had created secret companies in tax havens. He also investigated the Maltese Electrogas and 17 Black, the latter created by Fenech in Dubai, receiving 5,000 euros in daily income. The family believes that the murder sought to impede investigations into the front company 17 Black and its financial operations.
This framework is the subject of a judicial case different from murder. Fenech, Mizzi, Schembri and others are accused of bribery and corruption over the Electrogas project, while Fenech also faces charges of bribing a police officer.
