Vince Muscat, George Degiorgio, and Alfred Degiorgio have been formally charged with the assassination of journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia, 21 months to the day since she was killed in a car-bomb near her home.

Attorney General Peter Grech filed the bill of indictment against the trio on Tuesday morning.

The compilation of evidence against the three has been ongoing since December 2017, when they were arrested in a raid in Marsa. The three accused would have been eligible for release on bail next month had they not been charged as local law states that a bill of indictment must be served within 20 months of facing charges.  

The accused had time and time again attempted to apply for bail, the most recent attempt being Muscat’s through a new lawyer last Monday.  Each time however, the application for bail was unsuccessful. 

The men will now stand trial for allegedly creating, planting, and detonating the bomb that killed the journalist on 16 October 2017.

Over the past weeks, questions had been raised over the time taken by the AG's office to issue the bill of indictment, with reports speaking about the possibility that the suspects could be released on bail. 

The Council of Europe has also, through a report it adopted late last month, instructed the Maltese government to call a public inquiry into the murder within the next three months.

While the three suspects have been charged, many still feel that the mastermind behind the murder is still at large.

Government statement

In a statement, the government noted that the three persons accused of the murder of Ms. Daphne Caruana Galizia have been issued with a bill of indictment.

"This is further proof of the commitment and good functioning of the Maltese institutions," it said.