{"id":1184407,"date":"2026-09-03T15:59:24","date_gmt":"2026-09-03T15:59:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/1184407\/"},"modified":"2026-09-03T15:59:24","modified_gmt":"2026-09-03T15:59:24","slug":"european-parliaments-metsola-on-daphne-caruana-galizia-verdict-we-will-not-give-up-we-will-not-give-in-euobserver","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/1184407\/","title":{"rendered":"European Parliament\u2019s Metsola on Daphne Caruana Galizia verdict: \u2018We will not give up, we will not give in\u2019 \u2013 EUobserver"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u201cWe will not give up and we will not give in,\u201d European Parliament president Roberta Metsola wrote on Facebook post<\/a> on Thursday (3 September), reacting to Wednesday\u2019s court verdict relating to the 2017 murder of the Maltese investigative journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia that shook Europe.<\/p>\n

Yorgen Fenech, the man charged with being the mastermind behind her assassination in October 2017 and one of Malta\u2019s richest tycoons, was found not guilty on either of the charges: complicity in the homicide and association with the intention of committing a crime.<\/p>\n

The verdict by an eight-to-one jury majority after eight hours of deliberation, delivered at 7.30 pm on Wednesday, immediately prompted outcry and rage online.<\/p>\n

After years of procedural delays, Fenech\u2019s trial took over two months to reach a conclusion.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Fenech was arrested on his yacht in 2019 as he tried to sail out of Malta, and was formally indicted in 2021.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen they assassinated you, in broad daylight, outside your family home, we promised that we would not let them sweep it under the carpet,\u201d Metsola said in her social media. \u201cThat promise holds today.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

In a message on Facebook, Matthew Caruana Galizia, Daphne\u2019s eldest son, said<\/a>: \u201cWe knew an acquittal was a huge possibility. But it\u2019s like when someone dies, it still shocks you.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThat verdict can never be accepted no matter what,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cTheir decision flies in the face of all evidence, of all logic, of the truth \u2026 What happened in that room is not justice but pure evil,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

Daphne\u2019s sister, Corinne Vella, also noted<\/a> that Fenech has admitted his guilt<\/a> when he asked to be pardoned for Daphne’s murder. \u201cNot once, not twice \u2013 he asked for a pardon three times. No one asks for a pardon if he is innocent.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cEverybody is much more at risk now, because this signals you can kill journalists with impunity,\u201d she added.<\/p>\n

The verdict is \u201cheartbreaking\u201d for her family who has been nine years waiting for justice, said<\/a> the Committee to Protect Journalists on social media.<\/p>\n

Likewise, Reporters Without Borders demanded<\/a> in an online statement that the \u201c[Maltese] government take measures to protect journalists and media freedom.\u201d<\/p>\n

Five men have been convicted in relation to Caruana Galizia\u2019s killing: three who carried out the assassination order and two for supplying the bomb planted under the journalist\u2019s car, which took her life nine years ago.<\/p>\n

If convicted, Fenech would have faced a life sentence. On Wednesday, he was released from custody.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\u201cWe will not give up and we will not give in,\u201d European Parliament president Roberta Metsola wrote on…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1184408,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[5174],"tags":[217083,2000,299,5187,225611,298973,258228,320964,258226,320962,298971,225609,258227,320963,298972,225610],"class_list":["post-1184407","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-eu","tag-typedefinedterm","tag-eu","tag-europe","tag-european","tag-identifier4403","tag-identifier4448","tag-identifier4562","tag-identifier4660","tag-nameeuropean-parliament","tag-namemalta","tag-namemedia","tag-namesociety","tag-termcodeeuropean-parliament","tag-termcodemalta","tag-termcodemedia","tag-termcodesociety"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/117207943904478223","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1184407","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1184407"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1184407\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1184408"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1184407"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1184407"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1184407"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}