The ‘tal-Maksar’ trial: A nation confronts the rot within

 As the trial involving Robert Agius (tal-Maksar) and Jamie Vella progresses, accused of allegedly providing the bomb used to assassinate Daphne Caruana Galizia, it is yet another confirmation that her death was not merely a hit job carried out by low-level criminals.

It was a symptom of a broader culture of impunity, state-enabled corruption, and collusion between the criminal underworld and the political elite. It confirms the conclusions of the public inquiry into her assassination.

Testimonies laid bare the chilling logistics of the assassination. Tal-Maksar, alongside associate Vella, allegedly provided the bomb that obliterated Caruana Galizia’s vehicle—and her life—in October 2017.

Vincent Muscat (il-Koħħu) testified that they initially planned to kill her with firearms, but then opted for a remote-controlled bomb for its “efficiency”.

The surveillance of Caruana Galizia’s home, her routines, even the testing of identical vehicles for practice, point to a level of premeditation that is as methodical as it is revolting.

Photographs presented in court drove home the sheer savagery of the crime. Forensics experts showed images of the mangled remains of the car, the fragments of the bomb, and the path of destruction it carved.

These weren’t just exhibits—they were visual indictments of a system that allowed such actors to operate freely and confidently for years.

The political nexus

Former Minister Chris Cardona is set to testify in the ongoing trial. He has been mentioned in reference to an earlier plot to kill the journalist in 2015.

Previously, during the public inquiry into Caruana Galizia’s murder, Cardona denied any involvement, describing the assassination as “macabre and brutal”. He also addressed allegations of a letter attempting to implicate him in the murder, asserting it was a “clear frame-up.”

The prosecution has long established that the murder was not just a criminal act—it was a contract killing allegedly commissioned by Yorgen Fenech, a business magnate and former CEO of the Electrogas consortium.

Fenech is accused of ordering the murder to silence Caruana Galizia’s investigations into the corruption surrounding the Electrogas deal.

The most damning layer, however, lies in Fenech’s reported close ties to Keith Schembri, the former chief of staff to then-prime minister Joseph Muscat.

According to testimony and police evidence in different trials, Schembri and Fenech communicated frequently during the run-up to the assassination.

Schembri allegedly leaked sensitive information to Fenech—including briefings about the investigation—while still occupying one of the most powerful unelected positions in the Maltese government.

Former prime minister Joseph Muscat continues to deny any involvement in the assassination. But denial cannot erase the damning conclusion of the public inquiry: That under his leadership, the Maltese state fostered a “culture of impunity” which emboldened the powerful and silenced dissenters.

It is not enough for Muscat to claim clean hands when the government he led enabled and protected those with blood on their hands. And does anyone believe he had no clue of what was happening? Schembri himself testified, in another case, that Muscat was informed of everything.

The trial of the tal-Maksar brothers (in which Robert Agius’ brother, Adrian, is also being accused of another murder) is not just about convicting two individuals. It is a test of whether Malta can truly reckon with the rot that led to Caruana Galizia’s death.

The details emerging from court—of explosives, political name-dropping, forensics, and mafia-like payments—should alarm every citizen who values justice and democracy.

These revelations fuel the growing belief that the murder could not have happened without high-level political cover. Daphne was not killed in spite of the system. She was killed because of it.

The tal-Maksar trial is a test, not just of the justice system’s capacity to punish a few individuals, but of the nation’s willingness to confront the structural decay that led to Caruana Galizia’s assassination.

Malta must reckon with the fact that her assassination was not committed in a vacuum. It was enabled by a network of complicity that reached into Castille itself.