Yorgen Fenech faces charges of directing the assassination of investigative journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia.
By Reuters and The Associated Press
Published On 2 Jul 2026
A Maltese businessman, Yorgen Fenech, who was arrested seven years ago in the 2017 killing of investigative journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia, is now on trial in Malta.
Fenech, 44, was apprehended in 2019 aboard a yacht in the Maltese archipelago during an alleged escape attempt.
He is charged with directing the assassination of the 53‑year‑old journalist, renowned for her investigative reporting on corruption in Malta.
At the time of the murder, Caruana Galizia was probing alleged kick‑backs from the offshore entity “17 Black.”
Subsequent investigations revealed that Fenech owned 17 Black.
“Nine years after my mother’s murder, the man accused of ordering it stands trial,” wrote Paul Caruana Galizia, the journalist’s son, on social media on Wednesday.
Caruana Galizia was killed when a car bomb detonated as she exited her residence on the Mediterranean island.
Prosecutors allege that Fenech commissioned former taxi driver Melvin Theuma to enlist a hit team.
Theuma later confessed to hiring three men to execute the bombing, admitting that he received $170,000 from Fenech as remuneration.
The trio responsible for the attack was apprehended shortly after the crime and entered guilty pleas at the commencement of their own trial.
In 2025, two of the assailants received life sentences, while the third received a reduced term in exchange for cooperation.
Reporters Sans Frontières underscored the significance of the trial, stating, “This landmark proceeding must illuminate the reprehensible conspiracy and the lethal sequence that culminated in the death of a journalist within the European Union.”
The murder precipitated the resignation of former premier Joseph Muscat in 2020 amid widespread protests over the administration’s handling of the investigation.
A 2021 public inquiry concluded that the state bore responsibility for the killing, citing an “atmosphere of impunity” fostered by the government.
Fenech maintains his innocence. The trial is anticipated to continue for several weeks.
