Two brothers who pleaded guilty to the 2017 murder of a prominent journalist in Malta have each been sentenced to 40 years in prison, the first day of their trial.
Judge Edwina Grima read out the sentence to George and Alfred Degiorgio, who had admitted setting a car bomb that killed journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia, a murder that sparked an international outcry.
The pair changed their pleas to guilty hours after proceedings began today.
"Their position has changed... they declare they are guilty," said lawyer Simon Micallef Stafrace, representing George and Alfred Degiorgio.
The brothers had earlier pleaded not guilty to the assassination of the journalist.
"Don't you know who killed Daphne?" George Degiorgio called to the prosecution upon entering court today.
"Your friends, those you were shoulder to shoulder with... Go investigate them!"
The car bomb killing of the 53-year-old investigative journalist, described as a "one-woman WikiLeaks", led to widespread anger internationally, and sparked mass protests in Malta and the resignation of the prime minister.
As the trial opened today, Judge Grima said a defence request to suspend the trial, due to what lawyers said was their lack of time to prepare, had been refused.
Courtroom observers today included representatives from press freedom groups, including Reporters without Borders and the European Centre for Press and Media Freedom.
One of Malta's most prominent public figures, Ms Caruana Galizia was a vocal critic of the country's political elite, whom she accused of cronyism and corruption via her blog.
She was killed on 16 October 2017 in a car bomb attack near her home, hours after posting a message that read, "There are crooks everywhere you look now. The situation is desperate."
Accused mastermind awaits trial
The Degiorgio brothers said last year they were prepared to implicate a former government minister in exchange for a pardon, which was not granted.
George Degiorgio confessed to the crime during an interview from jail in July, calling it "just business".
His brother Alfred, seated in a wheelchair, said "I have nothing to say," which the court had recorded as a not guilty plea.
Both brothers were charged with homicide, causing a fatal explosion and criminal conspiracy, among other crimes.
A third man, Vincent Muscat, pled guilty last year and was sentenced to 15 years in jail.
The wealthy businessman considered by prosecutors to be the alleged mastermind of the murder, Yorgen Fenech, is still awaiting trial.
Mr Fenech has denied involvement in the murder.
Ms Caruana Galizia's assassination sparked outrage around the world and put Malta, the European Union's smallest member state, in the spotlight over its apparent rule-of-law failings.
Joseph Muscat resigned as prime minister over the affair in January 2020, following mass protests over his perceived efforts to protect friends and allies from the investigation.
A 2021 public inquiry into Ms Caruana Galizia's murder found the state should bear responsibility for her death, by creating a "climate of impunity" for those who wanted to silence her.
