The planning of a murder in a potato warehouse. Tens of thousands of euros were handed over in a brown envelope. The trial of Jørgen Fenek, 44 years old and heir to a large real estate empire in Malta, is bringing to light details of how the murder was planned and carried out, using a booby-trapped car, of journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia, who was investigating corruption cases.

The start of the trial in a Valletta court is a development that many feared would never happen, following numerous delays and procedural issues.

Fenech was arrested in 2019 on his yacht while allegedly attempting to flee Malta, after his name had been linked to the murder, which had been committed two years earlier.

In the indictment, he is named as the “mastermind of the plot” and faces charges of aiding and abetting murder and participation in a criminal organization. He is the last of the seven men to stand trial for the murder that shocked the country. The attorney general is seeking a life sentence for premeditated murder and up to 30 years in prison for participation in a criminal organization. Fenek denies all charges.

A Maneuver by the Constitutional Court

The case nearly came to a standstill again, just a few days before it was scheduled to begin. In an appeal filed with the Constitutional Court on June 25, Fenek argued that his right to a fair trial had been violated, due to the alleged installation of a surveillance device in a prison meeting room where he was speaking with his lawyers. The court agreed to hear his appeal but rejected his request to stay the main trial and proceeded as scheduled with jury selection on July 1.

The start of the trial proved difficult due to concerns about intense media coverage and its potential impact on the jury. It took the two sides five hours to agree on the jury selection, while authorities were forced to intervene when an alternate juror fainted as the temperature reached 33°C. According to Maltese criminal law, the jurors will remain in isolation for the duration of the trial, staying at a hotel without access to cell phones, computers, or smartwatches.

What Prosecutors Are Arguing

In the period leading up to her murder, Daphne Caruana Galizia was investigating a controversial deal for a power plant linked to Fenech. It was later revealed that he was the owner of the secret offshore company “17 Black,” which had also been the subject of the journalist’s investigations.

According to the indictment, Fenech initially approached his friend and taxi driver, Melvin Theuma, asking him to organize the murder of Caruana Galizia because he feared she was about to publish incriminating revelations about him and an uncle of his. Theouma then contacted the brothers Alfred and George De Giorgio, agreeing on a fee of 150,000 euros, an amount he claims to have received from Fenek in cash inside a brown envelope. Later, Theouma received a presidential pardon in exchange for his testimony against Fenek, and since 2019 he has been under a special witness protection program.

In June 2025, the men accused of supplying explosives, Robert Agios and Jamie Vela, were sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole. The DeGiorgio brothers were sentenced to 40 years in prison for planting and detonating the bomb, while their accomplice, Vincent Muscat, was sentenced to 15 years in prison.

Public opinion holds the government responsible

Caruana Galizia had devoted years to exposing corruption at the highest levels of Maltese political and business life. Her murder sparked an international outcry, turning the spotlight on the rule of law in the EU’s smallest member state.

The scandal ultimately led then-Prime Minister Joseph Muscat to resign in January 2020, amid mass protests accusing him of shielding his allies from investigations. A public inquiry in 2021 concluded that the government was responsible for creating a “climate of impunity,” in which Caruana Galizia’s killers believed they could kill her and go unpunished.

Her husband, her three sons, and her two sisters are attending Fenek’s trial, just as they did at the previous trials. On Friday, her youngest sister, Mandy Malia, posted on social media about the pain caused by listening to the alleged recordings, in which Fenech insists that Karuana Galizia should under no circumstances have survived the attack, as well as about their fear that their mother will die before all those responsible are brought to justice.

“Justice for Daphne cannot be delayed any longer,” Malia wrote. “Malta must rise to the occasion.” The trial is expected to last several weeks.

Source: Deutsche Welle