Maltese tycoon found not guilty of involvement in Daphne Caruana Galizia murder

Our verdict

A largely accurate, professionally sourced report that gives the verdict, the 8-1 vote and the reactions with clear attribution, and places the case in its political context. Its main weakness is that the family and anti-impunity voices dominate the reaction, while the government, Schembri and the Muscat camp get only brief responses, and a few unattributed evaluations ('most consequential', 'effectively unanimous') are the publication's own. Readers should keep in mind that the political slant is toward accountability for the former Labour-era leadership, and should read the government's and defence's positions in fuller form before drawing conclusions about who was responsible.

Why this lean

The axis maps poorly onto Maltese politics, so this is a judgment about the article's own slant. Most of the emotional weight and the closing reactions come from the victim's family and anti-impunity or press-freedom campaigners, who are critical of the Labour-era government. The government's response is one short paragraph. The main political voice is the opposition leader, and the article's framing of the verdict as a 'black spot on the Labour government' is attributed to him. The article reports defence arguments that point at Schembri, a Labour-era official, with more space than the prosecution. Taken together, the piece leans slightly against the former Labour government without endorsing a partisan line, so the lean is slight and leftward only in the sense of an anti-impunity framing.

Framing

The story is told from the victim's family and the press-freedom and anti-corruption camp, treating the acquittal as a failure of justice and a threat to journalists, with the central question being whether anyone at the top of the Muscat-era state will be held accountable.

Key Findings

1. 1Strength: the verdict is reported accurately and quickly. The headline 'found not guilty of involvement' and the body's 8-1 vote, the judge's release order and the count-by-count outcome all match each other.
2. 2Balance in the reactions section: the family, the opposition leader, campaign groups, CPJ and the government each get a voice, which covers a range of positions. But the government's response is a single unnamed statement with no quoted official, while Borg's claim that the verdict is a 'black spot on the Labour government' is given the closing political word.
3. 3Defence arguments get more space than the prosecution case: the summing-up from prosecutor Anthony Vella is one quote, while the defence's 'All roads lead to Keith' line and the claim that jurors 'saw who the real masterminds were' are both quoted and left unrebutted by the article itself.
4. 4Evaluative language appears unattributed in places: 'the most consequential political scandal in Malta's postwar history' and 'the effectively unanimous' characterisation of the 8-1 vote are the Guardian's own voice and not sourced to anyone.
5. 5Useful context is provided: the explanation of why Maltese juries rarely vote 9-0 helps readers understand the 8-1 result, and the 2021 inquiry and Muscat's resignation give the political backdrop.

Who gets a voice

• Corinne Vella

  Caruana Galizia's sister, quoted on impunity and the risk to journalists
  Victim's familyMain voice
• Alex Borg

  Leader of the opposition Nationalist Party, calls for parliament to reopen
  Opposition politicsMain voice
• Caruana Galizia's eldest son

  Criticises the jurors in a Facebook post
  Victim's familyMinor voice
• Anthony Vella

  Prosecutor, summing up that Fenech could 'buy justice'
  ProsecutionMinor voice
• Charles Mercieca and Giannella de Marco

  Defence lawyers arguing the chain of command led to Keith Schembri and that police did not investigate him
  DefenceMinor voice
• Yorgen Fenech

  The accused; testified he was only a messenger and did not respond to requests for comment after the verdict
  DefendantMinor voice
• The Maltese government

  Issued a statement noting the verdict and calling for prudence
  Government (Labour)Minor voice
• Repubblika, Occupy Justice, the Daphne Foundation, CPJ (Tom Gibson)

  Campaign and press-freedom groups calling for accountability and reform
  Anti-impunity and press-freedom advocacyMinor voice

Loaded language

Dimension Breakdown

Missing Perspectives

• A fuller government or Labour response: the article gives one generic statement and does not say whether the government will act on the inquiry's unimplemented recommendations, which matters for judging the 'institutional failure' claims.
• Schembri's full rebuttal and the Muscat camp's position: Schembri is accused in the defence's account but gets only a one-line denial, and no Muscat response is included, although the case turns partly on them.
• Independent legal analysis of the likely appeal or of why the jury may have found the Theuma testimony unconvincing: this would help readers weigh the defence's arguments against the prosecution's.

Highlighted Passages

Key Facts

• Yorgen Fenech, 44, was found not guilty of complicity in the voluntary homicide of Daphne Caruana Galizia and of association to commit a crime, by a jury voting 8-1 on both counts, according to the forewoman's announcement.
• Prosecutors accused Fenech of paying €150,000 via middleman Melvin Theuma to have the journalist killed.
• Caruana Galizia was killed in a car bombing in October 2017, nearly nine years before the verdict.
• The verdict is expected to be appealed by the prosecution, per the article.
• Joseph Muscat was forced out as prime minister, along with two ministers and his chief of staff, after the fallout from the murder, while the Labour party remains in government.
• The 2021 public inquiry concluded the state bore responsibility because it 'created an atmosphere of impunity, generated from the highest levels', and many of its recommendations have not been implemented, according to the article.
• Juries in Malta rarely convict 9-0, the article says, because that would reveal how individual members voted.
• Keith Schembri, Muscat's former chief of staff, denied all wrongdoing and said he had no knowledge of the murder.