A millionaire businessman charged with the 2017 murder of the Maltese anti-corruption journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia has been released on bail with no date set for his trial.
Yorgen Fenech, the heir to a casino and hotels group, was arrested and charged with complicity to kill Caruana Galizia in November 2019. However, delays in bringing the case before a jury have allowed his lawyers to successfully argue for bail.
The delays were condemned by Caruana Galizia’s family, who claimed the state and the justice system were “failing the victims”.
Fenech and his family have pledged over €50m in cash and shares as security for his release.
Caruana Galizia was killed by a car bomb which was detonated as she was leaving her home in Bidnija, Malta. The case embroiled the governing party in scandal and accusations of a cover-up, while the spectacle of a violent assassination within an EU member state raised concerns over attacks on journalists within Europe.
Fenech walked out of Corradino Correctional Facility on Thursday evening, five years after he was first charged. In a navy zip-up jumper and jeans, clutching paperwork and accompanied by his defence lawyer, Fenech climbed into a van with blacked-out windows as film crews pressed towards him. He declined to comment, saying only “thank you” before the van moved away.
Fenech is one of seven men who have either admitted to or been charged in connection with the killing. He denies the charges and is pleading not guilty.
To date, none of the accused have been put on trial. Two brothers pleaded guilty to planting the bomb and were sentenced to 40 years in prison. Their accomplice was given a reduced sentence after admitting his guilt and providing evidence for the prosecution. Two of the men accused of supplying the bomb are in custody awaiting trial.
Melvin Theuma, a taxi driver who claims he acted as middleman, secured a presidential pardon in exchange for giving evidence and is living under police protection.
The Daphne Caruana Galizia Foundation, set up by her family, said after Fenech’s release: “The bomb blast that killed her was a warning: the justice system is failing the victims.”
“While no one can be kept in prison without trial indefinitely, trials could and should be completed before bail becomes a concern. Defendants, prosecutors, and the courts should not be allowed to extend proceedings for years.”
Judge Edwina Grima originally agreed to bail on Friday 24 January, but negotiations over the complex arrangements for the financial guarantees took two weeks to complete, delaying Fenech’s release.
His aunt has pledged her shares in the family’s property business, Tumas Group, as collateral. The stake was reportedly valued at over €50m (£42m). Fenech has also paid an €80,000 (£67,000) deposit and is bound by a €120,000 guarantee, both of which will be forfeited should he breach his bail conditions.
He is barred from going within 50 metres of the coast or airport, and from contacting witnesses in the case against him, including Theuma.
He will have to sign a bail book at a police station every day and stay indoors between 5pm and 11am. He must only live at an address agreed with the court, and a police officer will be stationed outside his nominated residence 24 hours a day.
Fenech’s passport and identification documents will be held by the court.
The delays in bringing a trial have been criticised by Roberta Metsola, the president of the European parliament and an MEP for Malta, who wrote in a post on Facebook: “A system that forces those accused of the most heinous crimes to be allowed out of jail on bail because their trial by jury took more than half a decade to get under way, is a system that is broken. It is a system that cannot deliver justice.”
The attorney general, who is leading the prosecution, argued against the release, citing flight risk and the possibility of witness interference. However, Maltese law allows defendants to leave prison if a 30-month period elapses without trial after their initial bill of indictment.
Malta’s prime minister, Robert Abela, said he understood the family’s pain but rejected suggestions the government could have done more. Speaking last weekend he said the delay was due to constitutional cases and preliminary hearings brought by Fenech, and requests from the prosecution and family, such as anonymity for Caruana Galizia’s sources.
“If you ask me whether the government could have done anything differently in this case, I would say it couldn’t,” Abela said.
A newspaper columnist and magazine publisher whose political blog was widely read, Caruana Galizia was almost as well known in her home country as those she exposed in her scoops. She took aim at Malta’s then Labour prime minister, Joseph Muscat, and his ministers in her reporting.
The journalist was associated closely with the opposition Nationalist party, and the struggle to bring her killers to justice has been hamstrung by political conflict.
Muscat was forced to resign in 2019 amid the crisis. However, his party went on to win the 2022 general election, and remains in power today.
