So far, George and Alfred Degiorgio have denied killing Daphne Caruana Galizia. After a surprising confession, they are sentenced to 40 years in prison.
Mandy Mallia, the sister of slain journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia, lights a candle at a memorial. Valletta, Malta, Friday 14th October 2022.
gds./(dpa) Five years after the fatal bomb attack on journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia, two brothers have been found guilty of murder in Malta. A judge sentenced the two to 40 years in prison on Friday, on the very first day of the trial in the capital, Valletta.
After a few hours of trial, the brothers surprisingly pleaded guilty to killing the blogger with a car bomb on October 16, 2017. Caruana Galizia was one of the best-known journalists on the EU island state, researching and publishing for years on the sometimes far-reaching corruption. The attack caused a sensation and outrage in Malta and internationally.
According to the public prosecutor’s office, the perpetrators placed the explosives under the driver’s seat and then detonated them remotely. One of the accused triggered the detonator with a mobile phone on a boat and then threw the phone into the sea.
Confession after hunger strike
The confession represents a spectacular about-face: the brothers have so far denied their guilt. On Friday they accused the court in the capital Valletta of corrupt activities; they are not given a fair trial. One of the brothers has been on a hunger strike for weeks, the Times of Malta newspaper reported. After a tirade, the other brother said in court: “Maybe we’ll see each other in hell.”
Also accused in the case is businessman and millionaire Yorgen Fenech, who is said to have commissioned the attack. The charge is based on testimony from a taxi driver who heavily incriminated the three men. The taxi driver claimed to have acted as an intermediary between the killers and a well-known businessman who had commissioned the assassination.
Fenech denies the allegations and claims that influential politicians were behind the assassination. He has been in custody since November 2019, when he was arrested on his yacht in a possible attempt to escape, awaiting the start of the trial.