A Maltese businessman has gone on trial on the island over the 2017 car bomb assassination of prominent investigative journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia, whose death shocked the nation.

Yorgen Fenech, 44, is accused of complicity in her murder. He has denied all the charges.

In 2022, brothers George and Alfred Degiorgio were jailed for 40 years for the killing of Caruana Galizia, a harsh critic of the government who had uncovered networks of corruption in Malta and abroad.

Two other men - Robert Agius and Jamie Vella - were jailed for life in 2025 for supplying the bomb, while their convicted friend, Vincent Muscat, secured a pardon in exchange for testimony.

Fenech's trial began on Wednesday in Malta's capital Valletta, with a jury being sworn in for the high-profile case.

It was not immediately known whether the businessman had made any statements in the courtroom.

Fenech faces charges of complicity in the voluntary homicide of Caruana Galizia and criminal association with the intention of committing murder.

Caruana Galizia's family members - including three sons - were in the building to witness the start of the trial, according to the Times of Malta.

The trial is expected to last several weeks, Reuters news agency reports.