Daphne Caruana Galizia acquittal draws PM caution

Maltese Prime Minister Robert Abela urged “sympathy, prudence and caution” after the acquittal of businessman Yorgen Fenech over the 2017 car-bomb murder of investigative journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia sparked protests and anger from media freedom groups.

Abela spoke on Thursday, a day after the verdict. He said two separate investigations into the killing were continuing and that prosecutors could appeal the decision.

Hundreds of people demonstrated outside parliament in Valletta after Fenech, who had been accused by prosecutors of masterminding the killing, walked out of court a free man. Some protesters shouted “Assassin!” as he left.

Malta's parliament will hold a special session on Friday to debate the case after a request from Nationalist Party leader Alex Borg.

The Committee to Protect Journalists said it would continue to “seek accountability for all those involved in her murder”. The European Centre for Press and Media Freedom said the verdict sent a “disturbing message”, while Reporters Without Borders said it was “beyond outraged”.

RSF said Maltese authorities had failed to identify and convict the mastermind almost nine years after the assassination. Caruana Galizia's son, Matthew Caruana Galizia, called the jurors' decision “obscene” and “pure evil” in a Facebook post.

Prosecutors had accused Fenech of ordering Caruana Galizia's killing because she was close to publishing a compromising article about his uncle. Fenech, whose business interests included energy and tourism, was arrested on his yacht in 2019 as he tried to leave Malta after a middleman in the murder was offered a pardon to identify those involved.

Five people have been convicted so far in connection with the murder. Robert Agius and Jamie Vella were convicted in June 2025 of supplying the bomb and sentenced to life in prison. George Degiorgio, Alfred Degiorgio and Vince Muscat are serving prison sentences for carrying out the killing.

Caruana Galizia, 53, had exposed corruption and links between business and political figures in Malta. Her killing triggered mass protests, a political crisis and international scrutiny of Malta's rule of law.

Then-prime minister Joseph Muscat resigned in January 2020 after anger over his perceived efforts to protect friends and allies from the investigation. A public inquiry published in July 2021 concluded that the state should “shoulder responsibility” for the murder because of an “atmosphere of impunity” created by the government.

Caruana Galizia's family said Tuesday that accountability was overdue for those who “enabled, facilitated, or protected her murderers” and said the institutional failures that enabled the killing remained unaddressed and unreformed.