Updated 6.25pm

Yorgen Fenech walked out of prison on Thursday on bail, five years after being charged with complicity in the assassination of Daphne Caruana Galizia.

Greeted by his defence lawyers, Fenech did not comment as he was driven out in a police van from the prison quarters in Paola. 

He only told the reporters present "thank you".

Writing on social media an hour before Fenech's release, Caruana Galizia's son Matthew said: "The prime minister had five years to fix our broken system and did nothing. No one should have to wait this long for a trial. We don't expect special treatment: this is a major problem that affects everyone."

Times of Malta confirmed from multiple sources that all bureaucratic and legal obstacles had been overcome on Thursday to secure Fenech's temporary release before he faces trial by jury at a later stage.

Fenech was granted bail by magistrate Edwina Grima two weeks ago and ordered to follow a series of bail conditions intended to keep him under authorities’ watchful eye.

Yorgen Fenech has been in jail since December 2019. Photo: Chris Sant Fournier

But Fenech’s release from prison was delayed, as his family scrambled to meet the guarantees imposed by the court.

With Fenech’s aunt Moira acting as his guarantor, she was instructed to temporarily transfer her 15.4% shareholding in the family business, with an estimated value of just over €52m, to the government

Fenech also had to pay an €80,000 deposit and a €120,000 personal guarantee.

Should Fenech breach any of his bail conditions, which include remaining indoors between 5pm and 11am, the government will seize Moira Fenech’s shares in Tumas company and Fenech will lose both his deposit and personal guarantee.

Fenech will remain on bail, pending the trial by jury, for which there is no set date.

His bail award was met with scathing criticism from several quarters, including the Daphne Caruana Galizia Foundation and the Nationalist Party, with both blaming the government door for delays in the court case.

The justice ministry argued that the Attorney General’s office had objected to Fenech’s bail requests.

In a social media post, Fondazione Falcone Malta representative Robert Aquilina put out a warning that if Fenech "flees, we will protest non-stop until the government resigns".