Published by Global Banking & Finance Review®
Posted on June 10, 2025
2 min readLast updated: January 23, 2026
Add as preferred source on GoogleTwo men were sentenced to life in Malta for supplying the bomb that killed journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia in 2017, causing political upheaval.
VALLETTA (Reuters) -Two men were jailed for life by a Maltese judge on Tuesday for having supplied the bomb that killed anti-corruption journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia in 2017.
Caruana Galizia's murder shocked Malta and caused outrage across Europe, ultimately leading to the resignation of Prime Minister Joseph Muscat in 2019.
Robert Agius and Jamie Vella were convicted on Friday, with jurors reaching an 8-1 verdict after a trial that lasted more than six weeks concluded that they supplied the explosive material for money. The two defendants pleaded not guilty.
Their sentence was delivered on Tuesday, after lawyers’ submissions on punishment.
Caruana Galizia was killed on October 17, 2017, when a bomb placed under the driver's seat of her car blew up as she was driving away from her home.
Another two men, brothers George and Alfred Degiorgio, are serving 40-year jail terms after admitting to having set off the bomb. A third man, Vince Muscat, who also admitted his role in the murder, is serving 15 years after turning state's evidence and testifying against the Degiorgios, and also against Agius and Vella.
He described meetings in a coffee shop to plan the murder and how the military-grade bomb was procured, carried in a children’s shoe box and placed in Caruana Galizia’s car. It was set off by remote control from a yacht.
The alleged murder mastermind, one of Malta's leading businessmen, is awaiting trial and a court has banned media references to him so as not to influence potential jurors.
(Reporting by Christopher Scicluna, editing by Alvise Armellini and Alex Richardson)
Robert Agius and Jamie Vella were sentenced to life in prison for supplying the bomb that killed journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia.
The jurors reached an 8-1 verdict after a trial lasting more than six weeks, concluding that they supplied the explosive material for money.
Daphne Caruana Galizia was killed on October 17, 2017, when a bomb exploded under her car as she drove away from her home.
George and Alfred Degiorgio are serving 40-year jail terms after admitting to having set off the bomb that killed Caruana Galizia.
Yes, the alleged mastermind behind the murder, a leading businessman in Malta, is awaiting trial, and media references to him have been banned to avoid influencing jurors.
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