Acquittal in Caruana Galizia Case: Malta's Fragile Accountability

TVS News AI, editorially supervised, presents Acquittal in Caruana Galizia Case: Malta's Fragile Accountability.

On 16 October 2017, Maltese investigative journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia was blown up in her car near her home. Nine years later, a court in Malta has acquitted businessman Yorgen Fenech of the charge of ordering the car bomb. For you here in Germany, the question goes beyond the small island: What is an EU rule of law worth when the old-boy networks seem bigger than the justice system?

Who was Daphne Caruana Galizia?

Caruana Galizia investigated Malta's powerful, wrote on her own blog, under her own name, without the protection of a major newsroom. At 53, she was considered one of the country's most distinguished investigative reporters. Her death became a political earthquake: According to SPIEGEL, the case toppled the government at the time in 2020.

What happened in the trial?

According to Tagesschau, a court in Malta found two men guilty of being accomplices to murder following a six-week trial. The SPIEGEL topic page speaks of a total of three men in Maltese custody for the murder. What role the individual defendants played is reported by the sources with different emphases — one thing is certain: One of the alleged prime suspects is now free.

The Süddeutsche Zeitung classifies the case as "Malta's biggest murder case." Euronews reports outrage in the country after the acquittal. Both newspapers note that Yorgen Fenech — a businessman considered the alleged mastermind — was acquitted of the charge of planning the car bomb attack.

Nine years later, an acquittal fuels the suspicion that the old-boy networks in the EU's smallest member state may be stronger than the justice system.

Why is this alarming beyond the island?

An acquittal is legally not a conviction — but it shifts the picture. When the prime suspect walks free and only accomplices are convicted, the network in the background remains in the dark. This is precisely where the SPIEGEL analysis comes in.

The Caruana Galizia family made an urgent appeal to the Maltese judiciary shortly after the assassination: They asked that the preliminary investigation not be left to the investigating magistrate who was routinely responsible, because there had been repeated conflicts in the past. The very need for such a request shows how damaged trust in the institutions was.

What remains open?

How many more proceedings will follow, whether there will be appeals or new investigations — all of that cannot be read from the available sources. What's clear is: A journalist is dead, three men are in custody, one of the alleged prime suspects is free, and the family has been fighting for accountability for nine years. For you in the EU, an uncomfortable question remains: If the smallest member state fails for almost a decade to resolve a political murder of this magnitude — what does that say about the resilience of European justice?

More on the topic: SPIEGEL topic page on the case · Wikipedia entry on Daphne Caruana Galizia