Businessman accused of ordering Daphne Caruana Galizia murder stands trial in Malta

Tributes left for Daphne Caruana Galizia outside the courts of justice in Valletta in October 2018. Photograph: Jonathan Borg/AP View image in fullscreen Tributes left for Daphne Caruana Galizia outside the courts of justice in Valletta in October 2018. Photograph: Jonathan Borg/AP Businessman accused of ordering Daphne Caruana Galizia murder stands trial in Malta Yorgen Fenech, who denies all charges, appears in court more than nine years after the journalist’s death The businessman accused of ordering the murder of the Maltese journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia goes on trial on Wednesday, more than nine years after her death in a car-bomb attack that sent shockwaves through Europe. Yorgen Fenech, the heir to a property empire worth hundreds of millions, is one of seven men prosecutors accused of involvement in the killing, and the last to face trial. He faces two charges: complicity in the voluntary homicide of Caruana Galizia, and association with a person or persons in Malta with the intention of committing a crime there. He denies the charges. The attorney general has called for a life sentence for the murder charge and between 20 and 30 years for the criminal association charge. View image in fullscreen Yorgen Fenech leaves the courts of justice in Valletta in November 2019. Photograph: Yara Nardi/Reuters A jury was sworn in on Wednesday morning at the courts of justice in Malta’s capital, Valletta. Of the other six men already prosecuted in relation to the murder, five were convicted and one secured a pardon in exchange for testimony. Caruana Galizia died in 2017, shortly after a general election in Malta that was dominated by revelations from her investigations. A magazine publisher, newspaper columnist and blogger, she was one of the most recognised media figures in the country. Her reporting on leading government and business figures had made her a target of repeated attacks by politicians and their supporters. A subsequent public inquiry, demanded by her family, concluded the state had allowed “an atmosphere of impunity” to spread from the highest level of government to regulators and the police, leading to a collapse in the rule of law and creating a “favourable climate” for her murder. Caruana Galizia’s car swerved off the road into a field shortly before 3pm on 17 October 2017, as she was driving away from her home in the village of Bidnija. View image in fullscreen Forensic experts at the scene of Daphne Caruana Galizia’s killing in October 2017. Photograph: Darrin Zammit Lupi/Reuters A powerful bomb contained in a children’s shoebox had been placed under the driver’s seat. The bombers, who prosecutors say were paid €150,000 (£130,000) to carry out the attack, had broken into the vehicle the night before after weeks spent watching her movements and planning the attack. Her son Matthew Caruana Galizia, who had been with her at home, was the first to arrive on the scene, discovering her remains in the burning wreckage of the car. She