Prosecution formally asks for Yorgen Fenech’s retrial

The prosecution has appealed Yorgen Fenech’s acquittal, opening the way for the Court of Criminal Appeal to consider a retrial over the assassination of journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia.

The Attorney General filed the appeal on Tuesday following Fenech’s acquittal earlier this month.

A nine-member jury cleared the businessman of complicity and association in the murder by eight votes to one after a 55-day trial before Judge Edwina Grima.

Sources claim that the appeal alleges grave irregularities during the proceedings and challenges legal decisions taken by Judge Edwina Grima. The text of the appeal has not yet been published.

Under the Criminal Code, the Attorney General can challenge an acquittal only on limited grounds. The appeal may still be dismissed if the judges conclude that no miscarriage of justice occurred, even if they uphold a legal point raised by the prosecution.

If the appeal succeeds, the three-judge court may order a fresh trial for Fenech before a new jury, with a new bill of indictment.

The court could also dismiss the appeal and leave the acquittal intact.