Yorgen Fenech’s defence team has spoken out publicly for the first time since his acquittal in the Daphne Caruana Galizia case, insisting that the jury’s 8-1 verdict “deserves respect and is not to be undermined”.In a letter to the media, the lawyers described it as “unacceptable” for what they called a “practically unanimous verdict” to face attacks based on “malicious lies and fabrications”.The defence specifically addressed claims surrounding three opinion polls carried out over five years, rejecting suggestions that these could have influenced the jury. They said the existence of a poll had been brought to the court’s attention by lawyers representing the Caruana Galizia family a month before the trial.According to the defence, the court subsequently changed the list of potential jurors for July as a precaution and asked each person drawn whether they had been contacted to participate in a poll. “Each and every single juror whose name was drawn, whether subsequently empaneled or not, replied in the negative. This was done on oath,” they said.The lawyers also strongly rejected allegations of bribery involving jurors, describing them as “spurious”, while levelling their own accusations at the prosecution, the investigation and lawyers representing the Caruana Galizia family.“It is beyond unfair on all these jurors who served the community at great personal sacrifice, to be subjected to spurious allegations of bribery,” the defence said.The team also pointed to the court’s decision to order police to investigate other leads which emerged during the trial, before warning that it “reserves the right to take any legal action” over further repetition of what it described as “lies and baseless allegations”.Fenech was found not guilty by an 8-1 jury verdict of complicity in the wilful homicide of Daphne Caruana Galizia and criminal association, following a 55-day trial earlier this month.•