Two brothers accused of murdering Maltese anti-corruption journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia in 2017 pleaded guilty on Friday on the first day of their trial in Valletta.
“They have pleaded guilty,” said George and Alfred Degiorgio’s lawyer, Simon Micallef Stafrace, after both initially pleaded not guilty.
They are accused of having manufactured, planted and detonated the bomb that killed the journalist in her car, who denounced on her blog Running Commentary the endemic corruption in this small Mediterranean archipelago, a former British colony that entered the European Union in 2004.
The RSF association present at the trial
His death at the age of 53 on October 16, 2017 had greatly shocked the smallest state in the European Union and horrified its neighbors.
Assistant prosecutor Philip Galea Farrugia asked the jury, made up of nine people, to respect their duty of impartiality.
“Daphne Caruana Galizia was very well known and some may agree with her, others may not, he noted. Whatever her sympathies, they should not influence her decision.”
Several representatives of associations for the defense of press freedom are present at the trial, in particular Reporters Without Borders (RSF) and the European Center for Press and Media Freedom.
The journalist was murdered near her home a few hours after posting this message: “There are corrupt people everywhere. The situation is desperate.”
The Degiorgio brothers said they were ready last year to implicate a former minister in exchange for a pardon, which they were ultimately denied.
“A climate of impunity”
George Degiorgio had already confessed to the murder for the first time during an interrogation in July, calling it “just business.” The two men are charged in particular with murder and criminal conspiracy.
A third man implicated in the murder, Vincent Muscat, pleaded guilty last year and was sentenced to 15 years in prison. He will testify during this trial, the deputy prosecutor said Friday.
The wealthy businessman suspected of ordering the murder, Yorgen Fenech, has not yet been tried. He denies any involvement.
The death of Daphne Caruana Galizia caused a scandal in the country, which led in particular to the resignation in January 2020 of Prime Minister Joseph Muscat, accused of trying to cover up his friends and political allies affected by this murder.
According to a public investigation, the results of which were published in 2021, the Maltese state bears part of the responsibility for the journalist’s murder, in particular for having created a “climate of impunity” for those who wanted to silence her.
Source: BFM TV
