Fenech trial latest: Prosecutors slam ‘delay tactics’ in Daphne murder case

**Prosecutors accuse Yorgen Fenech’s lawyers of ‘delaying’ murder trial**

The halls of Malta’s courts have once again become the stage for one of the nation’s most politically charged sagas, as prosecutors accuse lawyers representing murder suspect Yorgen Fenech of intentionally stalling proceedings in the 2017 assassination of investigative journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia.

The latest twist in the long-running case came during a pre-trial hearing on Thursday, where Attorney General lawyers argued that defence requests for further evidence amounted to a deliberate strategy to “delay and obstruct” the start of the murder trial. Fenech, the former Tumas Group CEO, stands accused of complicity in the car-bomb murder that shocked the nation and triggered a political earthquake still reverberating today.

Lead prosecutor George Camilleri told Magistrate Rachel Montebello that repeated defence motions were “tactical manoeuvres” designed to push the trial into 2025. “Every stone has been turned, every document disclosed,” Camilleri said, visibly frustrated. “The defence is playing for time, and justice is being denied.”

Fenech’s legal team, led by veteran criminal lawyer Gianluca Caruana Curran, countered that they were merely exercising their client’s constitutional right to a fair hearing. Caruana Curran insisted that key evidence—including data from Fenech’s seized mobile phones and financial records—remained incomplete. “We cannot proceed when the prosecution’s case is a moving target,” he argued.

For many Maltese, the courtroom drama has become a painful symbol of a country still grappling with the aftermath of Caruana Galizia’s assassination. The journalist’s brutal killing on 16 October 2017, just metres from her Bidnija home, exposed deep-rooted connections between politics, business and organised crime. Weekly vigils held in Valletta’s Great Siege Square continue to draw citizens demanding full justice, while Caruana Galizia’s portrait—emblazoned with the words “The truth will out”—remains a fixture on balconies across the islands.

“Every delay feels like a slap in the face,” said Manuel Delia, a founding member of civil society group Repubblika, outside the courthouse. “We’ve had three prime ministers, two general elections and a public inquiry since Daphne was murdered. Yet the man accused of ordering her death still hasn’t faced a jury.”

The delays have also fuelled widespread scepticism about Malta’s judicial efficiency. A 2023 EU Justice Scoreboard ranked Malta second-worst among member states for length of criminal proceedings, with cases averaging 1,050 days—more than double the EU median. While reforms have been introduced, including the appointment of new judges and the creation of a specialised criminal court, critics argue that high-profile cases like Fenech’s expose persistent weaknesses.

Tourism operator Maria Cassar, 42, from Sliema, worries the saga is tarnishing Malta’s image abroad. “When I travel, people still ask, ‘Isn’t that the place where the journalist was killed and nobody’s been convicted?’” she told *Hot Malta*. “We can’t move on as a nation until this trial is over.”

Inside the courtroom, Magistrate Montebello struck a cautious tone, granting the defence a final four-week deadline to submit outstanding requests but warning that “the interests of justice cannot be held hostage indefinitely.” A decision on whether to commit Fenech to trial is now expected in June—almost five years after his dramatic arrest in November 2019 aboard his yacht *Gio*.

Meanwhile, the Caruana Galizia family’s legal team has filed a separate constitutional case arguing that the delays violate their right to a timely trial under the European Convention on Human Rights. “Justice delayed is justice denied,” the family tweeted after Thursday’s hearing. “We will pursue every legal avenue to ensure Daphne’s murder does not become another unresolved chapter in Malta’s history.”

As the summer heat begins to envelop the islands, the case that has come to define modern Malta shows no sign of cooling down. For a nation still wrestling with questions of accountability, transparency and the rule of law, the next chapter in the Fenech saga will be watched not just in courtrooms, but in homes, bars and parish squares across the archipelago. The message from prosecutors is clear: after nearly seven years, Malta deserves its day in court.