A Maltese court acquitted businessman Yorgen Fenech on Wednesday of orchestrating the murder of investigative journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia in 2017, as reported by the Times of Malta, according to AFP and Reuters.
Fenech had been accused of ordering the assassination that resulted in the death of the Maltese journalist, an event that shocked the island nation and sparked widespread international condemnation.
Daphne Caruana Galizia was killed on October 16, 2017, when a bomb placed under her car detonated near her home in the Maltese village of Bidnija. At the time of her death, she was 53 years old.
On her blog, Running Commentary, Caruana Galizia frequently accused Maltese politicians and officials of corruption, facing several legal challenges as a result.
Former Maltese Prime Minister Joseph Muscat became a target of criticism after Caruana Galizia alleged that Egrant Inc., a company implicated in the Panama Papers scandal, was owned by his wife, Michelle Muscat. She claimed that the company received funds from one of the daughters of Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev through a firm linked to Mossack Fonseca, the law firm at the center of the Panama Papers controversy.
Caruana Galizia also revealed that a Dubai-based company, named “17 Black,” transferred two million euros to Keith Schembri, then Chief of Staff for Prime Minister Muscat, and Konrad Mizzi, the former Minister of Tourism. The reason for this alleged bribe remains unknown.
The Daphne Project, a journalistic consortium that has resumed investigations, indicated that “17 Black” was owned by Yorgen Fenech.
Following these revelations, Joseph Muscat, Keith Schembri, and Konrad Mizzi all resigned from their positions.
