The sister of the murdered Maltese journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia has called the sentencing of two men connected to the killing “an incredible achievement” but says the slow pace of justice in Malta is putting whistleblowers at risk.
Corinne Vella described the life sentences handed to the men who supplied the car bomb in 2017 as “huge progress”. However, she added: “The length of criminal proceedings in Malta means reporters who expose criminals are still exposed … Malta’s slow courts embolden criminals and boost their sense of impunity.”
Caruana Galizia, 53, was killed in October 2017 after years investigating corruption on Malta while the tiny Mediterranean island got rich through rampant construction, selling EU passports to oligarchs and online gambling.
Caruana Galizia in Valletta in 2011. She was murdered in 2017
DARRIN ZAMMIT LUPI/REUTERS
On Tuesday, a court convicted Jamie Vella and Robert Agius of supplying the bomb planted under the seat of Caruana Galizia’s Peugeot 108. Suspected by police of trafficking drugs between the UK and Malta and buying guns from the Italian mafia, the pair are believed to have obtained the bomb in Albania.
They supplied the bomb to two brothers, Alfred and George Degiorgio, who pleaded guilty to planting the explosive and were jailed for 40 years in 2022.
“We hope that the sentences will be a step towards a safer world for journalists by signalling to potential killers that there are heavy penalties to pay when a journalist is murdered,” Caruana Galizia’s family said in a statement after the latest verdict.
The alleged mastermind behind the killing is, however, free on €50 million bail and awaiting trial, eight years on. Yorgen Fenech, a Maltese hotels and casino tycoon, was arrested in 2019 after being accused by a turncoat of paying the Degiorgios to kill Caruana Galizia to stop her exposing corruption at a gas plant deal he was involved in. He has denied the allegations.
Yorgen Fenech’s trial is due to start this year or early next year
AP
His close ties to senior politicians helped bring down the Maltese government in 2019.
Fenech’s lawyers have delayed the trial by challenging evidence, including a recent claim that Fenech’s 2019 interview in which he asked for a presidential pardon was inadmissible because he was under the influence of drugs.
“The trial should start in the next few months, or worst-case scenario in the first three months of 2026,” said Jason Azzopardi, the Caruana Galizia family’s lawyer.
Vella told the Times that since her sister’s death, Maltese society had become less tolerant of the corruption, political patronage and sleaze Caruana Galizia documented in her blog.
Corrine Vella says most of the recommendations from the inquiry into her sister’s death have not been implemented
MATTHEW MIRABELLI/AFP/GETTY IMAGES
“Civil society is more vocal about accountability, which is a big change, although it will take a generation to see real progress,” said Vella, 59. “It is an uphill battle, with continued resistance to freedom of information requests and the government accusing the media of peddling fake news.”
“After the latest verdict, there was plenty of criticism of my sister on social media. The propaganda that led to her death is still there.”
Vella said that most of the recommendations of the public inquiry into her sister’s death had not been implemented, and that Malta’s slow justice system must become more efficient to protect journalists who expose corruption. “The convictions show the institutions can work, but they just need to speed up,” she said.