Malta pair guilty of supplying bomb that killed journalist

By AFP/Albert Galea

Two men have been found guilty of supplying the bomb that killed Maltese journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia in 2017, bringing to five the number convicted over a murder that rocked the country.

Following a six-week jury trial, Robert Agius, 41, and Jamie Vella, 42, were both found guilty late Thursday of complicity in the assassination by supplying the military-grade explosive used in the deadly car bombing near the reporter's home.

They are expected to be sentenced early next week. Prosecutors in the Mediterranean island state have asked for life in prison.

The three hitmen who carried out the murder -- brothers George and Alfred Degiorgio together with Vince Muscat -- are already in jail after pleading guilty in separate proceedings.

Businessman Yorgen Fenech, who is accused of masterminding the murder, is still awaiting trial.

Caruana Galizia was an investigative reporter who had written about cronyism and sleaze within Malta's political and business elite. Her murder, at age 53, drew international outrage.

There were also large protests in Malta against the then-prime minister, Joseph Muscat, over his perceived efforts to protect friends and allies from the investigation. He stepped down in January 2020.

A public inquiry published in 2021 found no evidence of state involvement in the assassination, but found the government created a "climate of impunity" for those who wanted to silence Caruana Galizia.

In a statement, her family said the latest convictions brought 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," they said.

Complex scheme to kill

Press freedom group Reporters Without Borders (RSF) similarly hailed the "undeniable progress in the quest for justice", while lamenting the slow pace of change.

The latest trial "once again highlighted the Maltese state's failure to dismantle -- at every stage -- the complex scheme devised to kill a journalist, and the difficulty of untangling it in a drawn-out judicial process", said Pavol Szalai, head of the RSF European Union desk.

"There are two lessons here: the justice system must swiftly proceed toward the conviction of the mastermind behind the murder, and the government must finally implement the recommendations on journalist safety and press freedom that emerged from the public inquiry following the assassination."

Hitman Vince Muscat was the prosecution's key witness in the trial against Agius and Vella, although more than 150 people testified before the jury, including relatives of Caruana Galizia, members of the FBI and a former government minister.

Muscat had also given evidence against the Degiorgio brothers, in return for a reduced sentence of 15 years for his role in the assassination.

The Degiorgio brothers, who pleaded guilty on the first day of their 2022 trial, were each sentenced to 40 years.

Fenech, who had close ties with Joseph Muscat's government, was arrested in November 2019 aboard his yacht as he tried to sail out of Malta. He was granted bail in January 2025.

Melvyn Theuma, the middleman in the murder, received a presidential pardon in 2019 and is now a state witness.