Taxi driver says he acted as middleman between Yorgen Fenech and three men already convicted of €150,000 contract killing

The businessman accused of paying for hitmen to murder the journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia was impatient for the killing to take place, and once texted from his boat to say he was “preparing champagne” to celebrate, a jury in Malta has heard.

Yorgen Fenech, the 44-year-old heir to a property empire that includes several Hilton hotels, is on trial in Malta for complicity in the murder of Caruana Galizia. She died in a car bombing in October 2017 after publishing a series of revelations about senior politicians that were so damaging they triggered a snap general election.

Former economy minister Chris Cardona and ex-chief of staff Keith Schembri named as being involved in 2017 murder of journalist

Two political figures who previously held powerful government roles in Malta were accused of plotting to kill the journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia during court testimony on Wednesday.

The allegations, against a former economy minister and a former chief of staff to the prime minister, were made during a chaotic day at the courts of justice in Valletta, where the businessman Yorgen Fenech is on trial for ordering the assassination of Caruana Galizia in 2017.

Yorgen Fenech said to have spent €400,000 on fees for men convicted of car bombing that killed investigative journalist

A businessman accused of commissioning the murder of the Maltese journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia spent more than €400,000 (£343,000) on legal fees for the hitmen convicted of her killing, prosecutors claim.

Yorgen Fenech, the 44-year-old heir to one of Malta’s largest fortunes, arrived in court for the second day of his trial on Thursday in an unmarked armoured police vehicle. He is on house arrest having pledged a record bail estimated at €50m.

Family of Daphne Caruana Galizia condemn delays in bringing Yorgen Fenech to trial after arrest in 2019

A millionaire businessman charged with the 2017 murder of the Maltese anti-corruption journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia has been released on bail with no date set for his trial.

Yorgen Fenech, the heir to a casino and hotels group, was arrested and charged with complicity to kill Caruana Galizia in November 2019. However, delays in bringing the case before a jury have allowed his lawyers to successfully argue for bail.

Inquiry into death of Daphne Caruana Galizia in 2017 says state had created a culture of impunity

An independent inquiry in Malta into the murder of the anti-corruption journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia has found that the state had to bear responsibility after creating a “culture of impunity”.

The 437-page report, conducted by a team of judges and released on Thursday, said the state “failed to recognise the real and immediate risks” to the investigative journalist’s life and “failed to take reasonable steps to avoid them”.

George and Alfred Degiorgio offer Maltese prosecutors details on other men they say were involved in killing

Two brothers accused of direct involvement in the murder of Daphne Caruana Galizia have asked for a presidential pardon in exchange for supplying state prosecutors with information on other men involved in the killing, including a former minister and a “middleman”.

George and Alfred Degiorgio, both arrested and accused of planting and triggering the car bomb that killed the investigative journalist in 2017, have sent two separate letters with formal requests to Malta’s president, George Vella.

Detective tells court Daphne Caruana Galizia’s murder was motivated by desire to suppress information

Police believe that the anti-corruption journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia was killed for what she was about to reveal about a government-sponsored power station deal, a court in Malta has heard.

At the start of 2017, Caruana Galizia received a cache of 600,000 emails leaked from an energy company partly owned by Yorgen Fenech, who is now the chief suspect in the murder. The company, Electrogas, holds a lucrative concession to supply Malta’s state-owned electricity provider.