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Two brothers are sentenced to 80 years in prison in connection with the murder of the investigative journalist in Malta

2022-10-15 18:48:02Kosova&Bota SHKRUAR NGA ASSOCIATED PRESS
Two brothers are sentenced to 80 years in prison in connection with the murder
The murder of journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia

A judge in Malta sentenced two brothers to 40 years each on Friday after they unexpectedly pleaded guilty to their roles in the car bomb killing of a journalist who wrote about corruption that shocked Europe and sparked angry protests in Malta. .

Just hours earlier, at the start of the hearing in a court in Valletta, George Degiorgio, 59, and Alfred Degiorgio, 57, had pleaded not guilty to the death of Daphne Caruana Galizia in the explosion that occurred as she was driving her home on October 16, 2017.

Ms. Caruana Galizia was an investigative journalist reporting on suspected corruption among political and business circles in the small European Union country, which is a fiscal haven in the Mediterranean.

"This is an important step forward to bring justice to a case that constitutes a dark chapter in Malta's history," said a statement issued by Prime Minister Robert Abela's office shortly after the sentencing.

One of her sons, Matthew Caruana Galizia, told reporters: "I am relieved that they were convicted. Now the other cases must be pursued," he said, referring to the prosecution of other defendants.

But he added that the five years it had taken to get this stage of justice for his mother was "too long".

Judge Edwina Grima left the courtroom for about an hour after the guilty plea and handed down the sentences when she returned.

The two defendants were also ordered to pay €50,000 each of the money they received as a result of the crime, as well as court costs.

They could have faced a maximum sentence of life in prison.

Prosecutors argued that the brothers were paid for the killing by a prominent Maltese businessman with ties to the government. Charges have been brought against the businessman and he will be tried separately.

The Degiorgio brothers pleaded guilty to manslaughter; the explosion that resulted in the death of a person; illegal possession of explosives; criminal conspiracy; inciting, creating, organizing or financing an organization for the purpose of committing criminal offenses and actively participating in a conspiracy.

On the eve of the trial, the Degiorgio brothers had denied the charges. A third suspect, Vincent Muscat, avoided trial after pleading guilty. He is serving a 15-year sentence.

But at the start of the trial on Friday, Alfred Degiorgio pleaded not guilty, while his brother said he had nothing to say, which the court interpreted as a plea of ​​not guilty.

It is not clear why the defendants changed their position.

During the prosecution's opening arguments, prosecutors argued they had evidence that included cellphones linking the defendants to the planting of the bomb.

The brothers had tried unsuccessfully to negotiate a pardon in exchange for providing the names of the main suspects in the assassination, including a former minister whose identity has not been released.

The bomb was placed under the driver's seat and the blast was so powerful that pieces of the car flew over a wall and into a field.

Maltese investigative journalist Caruana Galizia, 53, had written extensively on her Running Commentary website about alleged corruption in political and business circles in the Mediterranean island nation, a tax haven.

Among the targets of her investigation were people in the inner circle of then prime minister Joseph Muscat, whom she accused of running shell companies in tax havens revealed by the Panama Papers leak. But she also targeted the opposition. At the time she was killed, she was facing more than 40 defamation lawsuits.

The arrest of a senior businessman with ties to senior government officials two years after the assassination sparked a series of mass protests in the country, forcing Prime Minister Muscat to resign.

Yorgen Fenech was arrested in 2019 and indicted in 2021 for alleged complicity in the murder. He was also charged with complicity to commit murder. He has pleaded not guilty to all charges.

A date for his trial has not been set.

Taxi driver Melvin Theuma was granted a presidential pardon in 2019 in exchange for testifying against Fenech and other alleged accomplices. Jamie Vella and Robert Agius have been charged with giving the bomb, but their trial has not yet started.

In the morning session before the lunch break, Deputy Attorney General Philip Galea Farrugia told the court that Theumas was asked by an unidentified person to find someone to kill journalist Caruana Galizia. Theuma allegedly spoke with one of the Degiorgio brothers and a payment of 150,000 euros ($146,500) was negotiated, Galea Farrugia said.

Galea Farrugia also said that initially there was talk of a firearm in the killing, but later it was decided to use a bomb. Prosecutors also said a mobile phone - one of three owned by George Degiorgio - caused the explosion.

A 2021 public inquiry report concluded that the Maltese state "must be held accountable" for the killing of Caruana Galizia because of the culture of impunity that emanated from the highest levels of government.

The Council of Europe's human rights commissioner, Dunja Mijatovic, condemned the "lack of effective results in establishing accountability five years later."

In a letter addressed to Prime Minister Abela, the commissioner expressed the need for urgency in the protection of journalists in Malta and mentioned the cases of defamation that still continue against Caruana-Galizia's relatives after her death.


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