VALLETTA, Sept 2 (Reuters) – Jurors retired to consider their verdict on Wednesday in the trial of a Maltese businessman accused of masterminding the car bomb murder of prominent anti-corruption journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia nine years ago.
Yorgen Fenech, 44, is accused of complicity to murder Caruana Galizia in October 2017, a killing that shocked Europe, set off a political firestorm in Malta and drew international scrutiny of the country’s police and judiciary.
Fenech faces a life sentence if convicted of complicity to murder, and up to 18 years if found guilty of a lesser charge of criminal association to commit murder.
“I pray to God to help you in your decision,” judge Edwina Grima told the nine jurors after three days of summing up in a trial that began on July 1.
A verdict must be supported by at least six of the nine jurors.
Members of Caruana Galizia’s family were in court on Wednesday as a trial that has gripped the Mediterranean island reached its closing stages.
During the trial, alleged middleman Melvin Theuma, who turned state’s evidence, testified that Fenech had ordered and funded the murder and paid for the legal defence of the hitmen.
The jury heard that Fenech had wanted Caruana Galizia killed because she was about to reveal information about him. She was 53 when she died.
Fenech has denied the accusations, and his defence during the trial pointed fingers at his one-time close friend Keith Schembri, former chief of staff of then-prime minister Joseph Muscat and a target of Caruana Galizia’s blogs.
Muscat, who was never linked to the murder, stepped down in January 2020 due to the political fallout from the assassination.
Police told the court that Schembri had never been a suspect, and he has denied any role in the murder.
(Reporting by Chris SciclunaWriting by Keith WeirEditing by Ros Russell)
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