Eight of nine jurors acquitted Maltese business magnate Yorgen Fenech of charges linked to the murder of investigative journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia in Valletta, Malta, in a long-awaited trial that has sparked protests. Fenech went on trial in Valletta on 1 July 2026 accused of complicity in the wilful homicide of Caruana Galizia and of associating with one or more persons for the purpose of committing the murder. He pleaded not guilty. The case dates back to Caruana Galizia’s assassination on 16 October 2017. Fenech was arrested on his yacht in 2019 while trying to leave Malta through Portomaso Marina. Five men were charged and later convicted in the wider proceedings. Hitman Vince Muscat was sentenced to 15 years in February 2021 as part of a plea deal, after which the trial record led to convictions for Robert Agius and Jamie Vella. Agius and Vella were found guilty in June 2025 and sentenced to life imprisonment for acquiring the military grade explosives used in the murder. Brothers Alfred and George Degiorgio were sentenced to 40 years each after being charged in 2022 over installing and detonating the bomb. In the latest appeal stage before Fenech’s trial, the Court of Appeal dismissed Agius and Vella’s appeal on 21 January 2026, rejecting claims that alleged juror misconduct and prejudicial pre-trial publicity had led to an unfair trial. In Fenech’s case, eight out of nine jurors returned a not guilty verdict on both counts on 2 September 2026, and the judge ordered Fenech’s release from custody. The Daphne Caruana Galizia Foundation said institutional failures that enabled her murder remained unaddressed and unreformed. After the verdict, Malta’s Financial Crimes Investigation Department arrested and interrogated three jurors and the husband of one of them on 17 September 2026, police later confirming it involved social media posts made by jurors years earlier and allegations about a juror’s phone being switched on during the trial. The three jurors were released on bail, and on 18 September another reserve juror was arrested, making five people arrested in connection with the probe. On 22 September 2026, the Maltese Public Prosecutor’s Office filed an appeal against the jury’s verdict, citing grave irregularities during court procedures. As of 22 September 2026, Fenech is released after the not guilty verdict, while the prosecution’s appeal is pending and the juror probe remains under way.