Malta businessman accused of paying 150,000 euros for journalist's murder goes on trial

The trial of Yorgen Fenech, a prominent Maltese businessman, began Wednesday in Valletta, nearly seven years after his arrest and eight years after the car bombing that killed investigative journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia. Fenech, heir to a significant real estate empire that includes the Hilton Malta hotel and casino, pleaded not guilty to charges of complicity in aggravated murder and criminal association.

Prosecutors allege Fenech conceived and financed the plot to assassinate Caruana Galizia in October 2017. According to the indictment, a powerful bomb, concealed in a child's shoebox, was planted under the driver's seat of her car. The device was detonated remotely via a mobile phone as she left her home, sending the vehicle off the road into a nearby field.

Caruana Galizia, 53, was a highly influential journalist known for her investigations into corruption and the links between Malta's political and business circles. Her son, Matthew Caruana Galizia, was the first to arrive at the scene, finding the wreckage engulfed in flames and his mother's remains.

The prosecution detailed how the assassination plan allegedly began in April 2017, with Fenech reportedly contacting taxi driver and bookmaker Melvin Theuma to find individuals willing to carry out the murder. The indictment states Fenech repeatedly identified as the mastermind, claiming he devised the plan and paid others to execute it. The agreed sum for the assassination was reportedly 150,000 euros, with an initial 30,000 euro payment. The plan was temporarily suspended due to the June 2017 general election but resumed after the Labour Party's victory, with Fenech allegedly handing Theuma an envelope containing the advance payment.

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Fenech is repeatedly named in the indictment as the instigator of the plot, claiming he conceived the plan and paid other people to carry out the assassination.