Ex-minister and PM aide named in Caruana Galizia murder plot
Testimony from the hitmen who killed the Maltese journalist has implicated two former senior government officials, reopening questions about institutional integrity on the island.
Two convicted hitmen have told a Maltese court that a former economy minister and the former chief of staff to the prime minister were involved in the 2017 murder of journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia. The testimony came during the trial of businessman Yorgen Fenech, who is accused of ordering the assassination.
Alfred Degiorgio, who is serving a 40-year sentence for planting the car bomb that killed the journalist, refused to answer any questions on Wednesday. Before his silence, he explicitly named former economy minister Chris Cardona, former chief of staff Keith Schembri and lawyer David Gatt as involved. The judge ordered his arrest for contempt of court.
His brother George testified in the afternoon and provided a series of detailed allegations. He claimed Cardona first gave the order to kill Caruana Galizia in 2015. According to the testimony, Cardona wanted the journalist dead because she would "break our party", a reference to the Labour administration that had taken power in 2013.
George Degiorgio told the jury he was summoned to a bar by Gatt, where Cardona offered €150,000 for the killing. He alleged Cardona confirmed that he, Schembri, the police commissioner and an unnamed fourth person were part of the plot. Degiorgio claimed he received a €50,000 cash advance and that police patrols near the journalist's home were subsequently called off.
The alleged 2015 assassination plan was reportedly halted by Gatt just before local and European parliament elections that April. Degiorgio also alleged that Cardona and Schembri were behind the actual 2017 murder, though he refused to detail that later plot, citing a separate challenge at the European Court of Human Rights.
For Malta's business and financial sectors, these claims resurrect the deepest wounds of the island's recent institutional crisis. Allegations that senior government officials and the police commissioner were complicit in silencing an anti-corruption journalist directly challenge the rule of law assurances that underpin Malta's economy. Such claims have historically rattled international investor confidence in the island's regulatory environment.
The hearing was marked by severe disruptions. George Degiorgio was fined €1,000 for contempt after shouting at the prosecution and telling jurors to "be careful." Cardona, Schembri and Gatt have previously denied any involvement in the killing. Caruana Galizia's family issued a statement noting that "allegations alone are not evidence" and that "no sufficient evidence has been presented in court showing that Keith Schembri or Chris Cardona paid for Daphne’s assassination."
