Fenech trial raised more questions than answers, Metsola says

European Parliament President Roberta Metsola said Yorgen Fenech’s trial over the murder of Daphne Caruana Galizia had raised “many more questions” rather than silenced calls for justice.

Metsola addressed Fenech’s acquittal on charges of masterminding Caruana Galizia’s murder during a speech at the State of the Nation Conference.

“There are days when the weight of history feels heavy,” Metsola said. “This week is one of them. What we have heard in court over the past two months shook the nation.”

She said justice was not simply about identifying those who directly carried out the murder, but also establishing who ordered it, who financed it, who assisted, who covered it up and why.

“The nation, the people, have a right to know all this,” Metsola said, insisting that the state cannot turn a blind eye to such questions.

She added that the state has a responsibility to work in the interests of its citizens, while people have a right to know where they stand with their own state and whether it is on their side or on the side of “power in its worst form”.

Metsola said people were now more aware than ever of abuses of power, corruption and, above all, the failure of institutions to fulfil their fundamental duties.

She noted that such institutional failures had already been exposed by the public inquiry into Caruana Galizia’s murder.

The inquiry’s recommendations have yet to be fully implemented, despite repeated calls for government to do so.

"It is our collective responsibility to ensure that we remove what is wrong, and leave a State, leave a country for those coming after us, better than we found it," Metsola said.

"The murder of Daphne Caruana Galizia exposed how power can be abused; yet, her legacy lives on in everyone who believes in political integrity, freedom, and justice," she added.

At the same time, she said Caruana Galizia’s fight against corruption and abuse of power made her an obstacle to those who benefited and enriched themselves through such practices.

Metsola said Caruana Galizia’s investigations exposed abuses of power and "shed light where others sought to maintain darkness."

She added that while Caruana Galizia did not hold political power bestowed through an election, she instead wielded the power of the written word. Her courage, Metsola said, allowed her to become a shield for the truth on behalf of the entire nation.