Jury finds 2 men guilty of supplying bomb used to kill Maltese journalist Galizia
VALLETTA, Malta — A Maltese jury found two men guilty of complicity in the murder of Maltese journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia, after a six-week long trial covering two homicides wrapped up late on Thursday.
Jamie Vella and Robert Agius were accused of supplying the bomb that killed her. Both were found guilty of the charges.
The journalist was murdered on Oct. 16, 2017, by a car bomb that was detonated while she was driving near her home.
Caruana Galizia, 53, had written extensively about suspected corruption in political and business circles in Malta. Her murder shocked Europe and triggered angry protests in Malta.
Caruana Galizia's investigative reports had targeted people in then-Prime Minister Joseph Muscat's inner circle whom she accused of having offshore companies in tax havens disclosed in the Panama Papers leak. She also targeted the opposition. When she was killed, she was facing more than 40 libel suits.
The Caruana Galizia family said in a statement that Thursday's verdict brings them a step closer to justice.
'Yet, eight years after Daphne's brutal assassination, the institutional failures that enabled her murder remain unaddressed and unreformed,' the family added.
Vella and Robert Agius, together with two other men – George Degiorgio and Adrian Agius – also faced charges related to the separate murder of a lawyer, Carmel Chircop, who was shot and killed in 2015. Vella, Degiorgio and Adrian Agius were found guilty of charges tied to the murder, while Robert Agius was found not guilty.
The judge will decide on sentencing at a later date.
George Degiorgio and his brother Alfred Degiorgio both pleaded guilty in 2022 to carrying out the murder of Caruana Galizia. They were each sentenced to 40 years in prison.
A third man, Vincent Muscat, pleaded guilty in 2021 for his role in the Caruana Galizia murder, and was sentenced to 15 years in prison. He testified in the recent jury trial after being granted a presidential pardon for his role in the Chircop murder on the condition he tell the whole truth.
Yorgen Fenech, a prominent Maltese businessman, is currently out of jail on bail awaiting trial on charges of alleged complicity in the Caruana Galizia murder.
Orland writes for the Associated Press.
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