Malta businessman acquitted of plotting journalist Caruana Galizia murder

The 2017 killing of anticorruption journalist shocked Europe and set off a political firestorm in Malta.Published On 2 Sep 20262 Sep 2026A court in Malta has acquitted businessman Yorgen Fenech of masterminding the murder of prominent anticorruption journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia.Fenech, 44, was acquitted on Wednesday at the end of a jury trial. He had been tried on charges of complicity to murder and for the lesser charge of criminal association to commit murder.Recommended Stories list of 3 itemslist 1 of 3A year into Trump’s boat strike campaign, families search for answerslist 2 of 3EU ministers in Ireland tackle Israeli settlement trade and Ukraine defencelist 3 of 3UK’s Burnham faces first parliament grilling, vows to ‘bring back hope’end of listIf found guilty, Fenech could have faced life in prison.Caruana Galizia’s family were seen weeping in the packed courtroom in Valletta after the businessman was cleared of both counts by an 8-1 margin following eight hours of deliberation by the jury.“Nine years after Daphne’s brutal assassination, the institutional failures that enabled her murder remain unaddressed and unreformed,” the slain reporter’s family said in a statement....