Malta chases life sentence for alleged mastermind in bombing death of reporter

The murder of Daphne Caruana Galizia, a reporter exposed cronyism in Malta

Maltese businessman Yorgen Fenech denies the charges. AP

A leading Maltese businessman has been indicted for allegedly masterminding the car bombing murder of an investigative journalist that triggered an international outcry.

The indictment, which confirms for the first time that Yorgen Fenech will stand trial, requests life imprisonment on the murder charge and between 20 and 30 years in prison for criminal conspiracy.

Journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia, who investigated alleged corruption involving high-level politicians and prominent businessmen, was killed on October 16, 201, when the car she was driving blew up on a road near her home.

Fenech was arrested in November 2019, while trying to leave Malta on his yacht, in connection with the murder and is in jail awaiting trial. He has denied involvement and pleaded not guilty to all charges.

Attorney General Victoria Buttigieg laid out the formal charges against Fenech on Wednesday.

The murder of Caruana Galizia, a reporter who had exposed cronyism in Malta's political and business elite sparked international outrage and protests that eventually forced then-prime minister Joseph Muscat to resign.

At the time of her death, she was investigating a highly controversial power station deal, in which Fenech was one of the main shareholders and a director.

According to the indictment, Fenech is accused of asking an associate of his, taxi driver Melvin Theuma, to hire three hitmen who would be paid 150,000 euros ($175,000) to kill Caruana Galizia.

The hitmen had allegedly initially planned to shoot the journalist with a sniper rifle from the other side of a valley, while she sat on her sofa at home. But the plan was dropped at the last minute and a car bomb chosen instead.

It was detonated at 2:58pm, allegedly by George Degiorgio, through a text message sent from his boat.

Degiorgio and his brother Alfred are both awaiting trial for planting the bomb. A third man, Vincent Muscat — no relation to the former prime minister — pleaded guilty earlier this year and was jailed for 15 years.

A public inquiry into Caruana Galizia's murder last month found the Maltese state responsible for creating a climate of impunity in the country that allowed her to be killed, including through the coordination by staff in the prime minister's office of online harassment campaigns against her.

Prime Minister Robert Abela apologised to the Caruana Galizia family after the inquiry's conclusions, and pledged to take all of its recommendations on board.