Yorgen Fenech’s defence team has condemned criticism against jurors who acquitted him by an 8-1 verdict.

“It is unacceptable that a practically unanimous verdict should be the subject of attack on the basis of malicious lies and fabrications,” the lawyers, Giannella De Marco, Charles Mercieca and Gianluca Caruana Curran, said in a press statement.

“The idea that three scientifically-based opinion polls held over the span of five years, carried out by a company specialising in surveys held in the context of an orchestrated media blitz against the accused in the years leading up to the trial could have influenced the jury, is at best, incredible.”

The defence noted that the existence of a poll gauging public opinion on the Yorgen Fenech case, was brought to the existence of the court by the Caruana Galizia family lawyers a month prior to the trial.

As a precaution, the court altered the list of potential jurors for July and asked all juror nominees under oath whether they had been contacted to participate in a survey prior to their empanelment.

They all replied in the negative.

The defence team also pointed out that neither the prosecution not the Caruana Galizia family’s lawyers requested that the trial be postponed or sought any other remedy over the matter.

“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 lawyers said.

They also strongly criticised allegations directed at the defence team itself, claiming they are intended to undermine the verdict and deflect attention from what they described as weaknesses in the prosecution’s case.

The lawyers also said that a number of issues emerged during cross-examination of witnesses and defence submissions, and pointed to the court’s decision to order police to investigate a number of leads that emerged during proceedings.