This week, a jury in Malta convicted two gang members who supplied the car bomb that killed investigative journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia in October 2017.
The guilty verdicts represent an important step towards achieving full justice in the case. We join our media freedom partners in welcoming the ruling. We hope it will strengthen the case against the alleged mastermind of the assassination, Yorgen Fenech.
Five people have now been found guilty of playing a part in the murder, and Fenech, a powerful Maltese businessman, is currently awaiting trial. He was released on bail in February 2025 and successfully argued for a court order banning reporting on his legal proceedings.
We, along with partners, continue to follow his case.
In 2021, a Public Inquiry into Daphne’s assassination outlined recommendations to address the culture of impunity and widespread institutional failures that allowed this killing to happen in the first place. Ahead of Fenech’s trial, we call on the Maltese authorities to show the political will to implement this process.
Malta and its government must mark this week’s verdicts as a turning point, a chance to take concrete steps to build a resilient, healthy environment for media freedom, where journalists can carry out their work safely and without fear.
They, and we, owe it to Daphne.
