Malta businessman found not guilty in car bomb killing of journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia

September 2, 2026 / 7:59 PM EDT / CBS/AP

A jury in Malta on Wednesday acquitted the Maltese businessman accused by prosecutors of being the mastermind behind the 2017 car bomb killing of crusading investigative journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia, sparking renewed calls for accountability in the Mediterranean island nation.

Caruana Galizia's killing shocked Europe, led to protests that toppled a prime minister and exposed a culture of impunity in the European Union's smallest state.

Yorgen Fenech, a prominent Maltese businessman, was indicted in 2021 on charges of complicity and criminal conspiracy. Prosecutors accused him of being the mastermind of the slaying and of having ordered and paid for it.

He pleaded not guilty and the jury on Wednesday, in an 8-1 vote, found him not guilty on both counts. Fenech was greeted with jeers outside the courtroom and the opposition Nationalist Party organized a demonstration late Wednesday to demand justice.

Fenech was the last of a half-dozen people charged in the plot to be prosecuted.

Caruana Galizia, 53, was killed on Oct. 16, 2017, by a car bomb that was detonated while she was driving near her home.

She had written extensively about suspected corruption in political and business circles…

Original source: https://www.cbsnews.com/entertainment/