Acquittal of Fenech, who additted complicity, denies Daphne the justice she deserves

Yorgen Fenech has been acquitted of Daphne’s brutal assassination, nine years after she was killed, denying her the justice she deserves. We remain grateful to everyone who worked to bring Fenech to justice, particularly our hardworking lawyers Therese Comodini Cachia and Jason Azzopardi, the police, prosecution, judiciary, the press, and civil society in Malta and abroad.

During Fenech’s months-long trial we have heard many people speak but we will never see or hear Daphne again. Her dreams and ours were shattered when she was killed outside her family home, aged just 53. Today should have belonged to Daphne. Accountability is now overdue for all those who enabled, facilitated or protected her murderers.

Had Daphne not been killed, we believe she would have exposed corrupt links between Yorgen Fenech, the then Energy Minister Konrad Mizzi and PM’s Chief of Staff Keith Schembri, centred on Fenech’s company, 17 Black. Fenech himself considered ElectroGas to be “one big mistake” and feared its collapse because it would have ruined him. We believe the motive for her murder was to stop her investigating Fenech’s once secret company, 17 Black, and its financial transactions. Documents show that the €5,000 per day due to Mizzi’s and Schembri’s once-secret Panama companies was expected to be paid via Fenech’s 17 Black, and his Chinese associate’s company, Macbridge.

Justice must now be served for the corruption that made Daphne’s murder possible. Yorgen Fenech and fellow ElectroGas director Paul Apap Bologna, Mizzi, Schembri, and others are already charged with bribery and corruption in connection with the ElectroGas project. Separately, Fenech is also charged with bribing the police inspector who was responsible for the Economic Crimes Unit and for the investigation into Fenech’s company, 17 Black. Other prosecutions may follow.

Nine years after Daphne’s brutal assassination, the institutional failures that enabled her murder remain unaddressed and unreformed. Lasting justice means no person should ever face the same risks again. Our country failed to protect Daphne. It owes it to her to prevent other lives being lost.