Jury trial of alleged bomb suppliers opens in Valletta

The jury trial of Robert Agius and Jamie Vella, alleged suppliers of the bomb that was used to kill Daphne Caruana Galizia, opened in Valletta today. The proceedings are expected to last a few weeks.

Daphne was assassinated on 16 October 2017 with a bomb planted in her car, as she drove away from her home in the early afternoon.

Two hitmen, brothers Alfred and George Degiorgio, pleaded guilty to complicity in Daphne’s murder in October 2022 and were sentenced to 40 years in jail. A third hitman, Vincent Muscat, pleaded guilty in 2021, was sentenced to 15 years in jail, and is now a state witness.

Melvyn Theuma, the middleman in Daphne’s murder, received a presidential pardon in 2019 and is now a state witness. The alleged mastermind of Daphne’s assassination was granted bail in January 2025.

The 2021 report of the public inquiry into Daphne’s assassination found that impunity was one of the factors enabling Daphne’s killing. Four years on, most of the report’s recommendations have yet to be implemented.