VALLETTA, Sept 3 (Reuters) - Malta's government has urged calm after the acquittal of a businessman accused of commissioning the 2017 murder of investigative journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia.
The verdict, delivered late on Wednesday, has angered the victim's family, and drawn criticism from press freedom group Reporters Without Borders, which said it was "beyond outraged" by the acquittal.
Prime Minister Robert Abela, returned to power in May, did not comment directly but his government urged restraint in a statement issued late on Wednesday.
"At this sensitive moment, the government appeals for prudence in public comments that could do more harm than good," it said in a statement, in which it "took note" of the outcome of the trial.
Caruana Galizia died at the age of 53 in a car bomb attack outside her home in October 2017. Her murder set off a political firestorm in Malta as well as focusing international attention on its police and judiciary.
Three men have been convicted of carrying out the killing and two others for supplying the bomb after earlier trials and are now serving lengthy jail sentences.
However, businessman Yorgen Fenech, heir to a property empire that includes hotels and casinos, was acquitted on Wednesday by an 8-1 jury vote on charges of complicity in murder and the lesser charge of criminal association to commit murder.
Prosecutors cannot appeal the verdict, except in exceptional circumstances involving points of law.
During a trial lasting just under two months, the prosecution had alleged that Fenech wanted Caruana Galizia dead because she was about to reveal information about him.
OPPOSITION PROTEST
Caruana Galizia's son Matthew expressed dismay, writing on Facebook: "Terrible decision by the jurors that our country may never recover from. They had a great responsibility to deliver justice. And washed their hands of it."
The opposition Nationalist Party held a "silent demonstration" outside Abela's office overnight, during which party leader Alex Borg called for a recall of parliament from its summer break to discuss the outcome of the trial.
"Now we know that the murder of Daphne Caruana Galizia was planned from within that building," Borg said, pointing to the prime minister's office.
Fenech had denied the accusations against him, and his defence pointed fingers at his one-time close friend Keith Schembri, former chief of staff of then-prime minister Joseph Muscat and a target of Caruana Galizia's blogs.
Muscat, who was never linked to the murder, stepped down in January 2020 due to the political fallout from the assassination. Police told the court that Schembri had never been a suspect, and he has denied any role in the killing.
(Reporting by Chris Scicluna, writing by Alvise Armellini, editing by Keith Weir and Ros Russell)
