The Caruana Galizia family has described yesterday’s guilty verdict against Robert Agius and Jamie Vella as “a step closer to justice” in the murder of investigative journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia.

In a statement, they expressed deep gratitude to their lawyers, Jason Azzopardi and Therese Comodini Cachia, and acknowledged the loss that can never be reversed: “We will never see or hear Daphne again.”

Daphne was 53 when she was assassinated by a car bomb on 16 October 2017. Nearly eight years later, Agius and Vella were found guilty by an 8–1 jury majority of complicity in her murder, of complicity in the explosion that caused her death, and of possessing dangerous explosives.

The verdict followed weeks of testimony, including crucial evidence from Vincent Muscat, a self-confessed hitman turned state witness who secured a reduced sentence in exchange for cooperating with prosecutors.

The defence sought to undermine Muscat’s credibility, arguing his presidential pardon was politically motivated.

In a separate case heard jointly, Vella and George Degiorgio were also found guilty of the wilful homicide of Carmel Chircop. Adrian Agius was convicted of complicity in Chircop’s murder, while Robert Agius was acquitted on that charge.

Despite the convictions, the Caruana Galizia family warned that institutional failures that enabled Daphne’s murder remain “unaddressed and unreformed.”

#MaltaDaily