Status: 10/14/2022 8:31 p.m
Surprising turn in the trial of the murder of the Maltese journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia. Unexpectedly, both defendants pleaded guilty on the first day of the trial. They were sentenced to 40 years in prison.
Five years after the fatal bomb attack on journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia, two brothers have been found guilty of murder in Malta. A judge sentenced the two to 40 years in prison on the very first day of the trial in the capital, Valletta.
Murder triggered political crisis
After a few hours of trial, the brothers Alfred and George D. surprisingly pleaded guilty to killing the blogger with a car bomb on October 16, 2017. The 53-year-old had regularly reported on corruption, money laundering and other illegal businesses in Malta. According to her research, members of the government were also involved.
The murder caused international outrage. In the course of a serious political crisis in the Mediterranean country caused by the murder, the then Prime Minister Joseph Muscat had to resign.
Reason for guilty plea unclear
It was initially unclear why the brothers abruptly changed their statement. In their opening statement, the prosecution stated that they had evidence, such as cell phone connections, that linked both defendants to the attack.
They had tried unsuccessfully to negotiate a pardon in return for revealing the names of more prominent conspirators in the assassination plot, including a former minister. If the jury found it that morning, the brothers could have been sentenced to life in prison.
Before the two, a third hitman and a taxi driver had already made confessions. The taxi driver claimed to have acted as an intermediary between the killers and well-known businessman Yorgen F., who commissioned the assassination. This suspected mastermind behind the murder from the point of view of the public prosecutor is still awaiting trial. He denies involvement in the murder.