Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1546491
ROBERT Abela was set to at- tend the inaugural grand party at DB's new Hard Rock Hotel in St Julian's when he was in- formed Yorgen Fenech walked out of court a free man on Wednesday. The prime minister, sources said was "stunned and shocked". He cancelled the planned vis- it, and his close-knit group of advisors led by his chief of staff Mark Mallia was called. Castille had foreseen backlash in the scenar- io where Yorgen Fenech would be convicted of m a s t e r m i n d - ing Daphne Caruana Gal- izia's assas- sination, but never im- agined the situation Malta finds itself in now. Yorgen Fenech, who became heir to the Tu- mas Group empire in 2014, had been arrest- ed for over more than six years after caught trying to flee Malta while subject of a po- lice investiga- tion in rela- tion to the journalist's murder. Yet, despite overwhelming ev- idence including admission on audio tapes secretively recorded by his henchman Melvin Theu- ma, Fenech was not only found a jury to be not guilty of mas- terminding the murder, but al- so not even found guilty of the complicity in the murder plot. YOUR RIGHT TO KNOW WWW.MALTATODAY.COM.MT SUNDAY 6 SEPTEMBER 2026 • ISSUE 1401 • PUBLISHED EVERY WEDNESDAY AND SUNDAY maltatoday €2.20 KARL AZZOPARDI kazzopardi@mediatoday.com.mt Animal welfare commissioner Trial of the century Court bans prevented reporting on juror surveys, Muscat's calls, pardons and site visits Elliot Magro says his experience as a police inspector will help guide his new role Court reporter Jaelle Borg recounts the moment Yorgen Fenech was acquitted in court INTERVIEW MT2 PAGE 12-13 What we couldn't report CONTINUES PAGE 10 Acquittal and the song of angry people "Do you hear the peo- ple sing? Singing the song of an- gry men? It is the music of the people Who will not be slaves again!"* Yorgen Fenech's ac- quittal hurts. After seven whole years in which the authorities assured us that all people connect- ed to Daphne Caruana Galizia's murder were either in prison or in Fenech's case, awaiting trial, we've ended up in a situation where the mur- der remains unresolved. People of goodwill will respect the jury's verdict because they want to be- lieve in a judicial system that is untainted by cor- ruption. But people of goodwill also know that something feels wrong; that the puzzle of Daph- ne's murder feels incom- plete. What we know for a fact is that on 16 Octo- ber 2017 Daphne Caru- ana Galizia was brutal- ly murdered because someone, somewhere put out a contract on her life. The people who exe- cuted that contract are in prison. But the person or persons who put out that contract on Daph- ne's life are today roam- ing about free. And that angers all those who be- lieve in justice, common decency and fairness. CONTINUES MT2 EDITORIAL Robert Abela's worst nightmare comes true PAGE 9 Yorgen Fenech (Photo: James Bianchi/ MaltaToday)