Journalists Killed in 2017 - Motive Confirmed: Daphne Caruana Galizia

Running Commentary | Killed in Unknown, Malta | October 16, 2017

Caruana Galizia, a prominent investigative journalist and blogger, was killed on October 16, 2017. The car that she was driving exploded near to her house in Bidnija, in the north of the island, media reported.

Caruana Galizia, who reported on government corruption and the Panama Papers, told police two weeks prior her death that she had received death threats, according to Malta's national broadcaster TVM, which did not provide further detail. The journalist's blog, Running Commentary, which included investigative reports and commentary on politicians, was one of the most widely read websites in Malta, according to reports.

A forensic expert was cited in local media as saying that preliminary investigations suggest that explosives were not placed inside the car, and that a remote control could have been used to set the bomb off. Malta's Prime Minister Joseph Muscat announced that the FBI had agreed to assist local police in the investigation, according to Reuters.

Muscat condemned the attack, which he described as an "attack on press freedom." The Prime Minister added in a statement, "Everyone knows Ms. Caruana Galizia was a harsh critic of mine, both politically and personally but nobody can justify this barbaric act in any way."

Caruana Galizia's reports about Muscat's alleged connection to the Panama Papers scandal forced him to call early elections in June 2017, after harsh criticism from members of the European Parliament. The journalist alleged that Muscat and his wife were behind an offshore company that received over US$1 million in payments from a Dubai company allegedly owned by Leyla Aliyeva, daughter of Azerbaijan's President Ilham Aliyev. Muscat denied the allegations, according to reports.

Caruana Galizia's last blog, which was critical of the country's opposition party, was posted at 2:35 p.m. local time, just a few minutes before she left her house, according to local reports.

The journalist's critical coverage led to several legal battles. The most recent came in August, when Malta's opposition leader Adrian Delia filed four lawsuits against Caruana Galizia, and accused her of libel for reports she published on her blog. Caruana Galizia's articles claimed that Delia laundered a total of £1 mln (U.S.$1.3 million) from prostitution in London through offshore accounts in his name, according to British and local media.

Delia denied the allegations, and said the account belonged to his client. According to media reports, Delia also said he had resigned from the company that owned the property where the prostitution was allegedly taking place after becoming aware of the way in which it was being used.

CPJ documented in February how a court ordered Caruana Galizia's bank accounts to be frozen until a verdict was reached in a libel case that two government officials had filed against her. A public fundraising campaign later raised enough cash to satisfy the court's demands, according to EuroNews.

On December 4, 2017, Maltese police, armed forces, and security services arrested 10 suspects in connection with the murder, Prime Minister Muscat announced.

Seven were released on bail and three – Vince Muscat and two brothers named George and Alfredo Degiorgio – were charged with murder, criminal use of explosives, being involved in organized crime, and criminal conspiracy, according to reports. The three pleaded not guilty when they appeared before a judge in December 2017, Maltese media reported.

In a statement, the Caruana Galizia family criticized the lack of communication from Maltese authorities regarding the arrests, saying that they were not contacted in advance and learned about the developments at the same time as the press. The manner in which the arrests were communicated, the family said, indicated "serious institutional deficiencies which are cause for general public concern."

Further, the family has taken legal action against the Maltese police, alleging that the investigation cannot be impartial because Caruana Galizia wrote critical articles about the chief investigator and the government minister to whom he is married, according to news reports. Members of the European Parliament who visited Malta in late November 2017 criticized the country's rule of law and noted a "perception of impunity" among government officials, according to reports.