The journalist leading the Panama Papers investigation in Malta was killed by a car bomb. https://t.co/ucHVpyhYYb— GlobalAwareness101 (@Mononoke__Hime) October 16, 2017
The Business Insider
written by Daniel Brown and AP staff
Monday October 16, 2017
Malta’s prime minister said a car bomb has killed an investigative journalist on the island nation.
Prime Minister Joseph Muscat said the bomb that killed 53-year-old Daphne Caruana Galizia exploded Monday afternoon as she left her home in a town outside Malta’s capital, Valetta.
Galizia had been leading the Panama Papers investigation into corruption in Malta, according to The Guardian, and was even described by Politico as a "one-woman WikiLeaks" who was "shaping, shaking and stirring" Europe with her reports.
The Panama Papers refer to the 11.5 million documents that were leaked from large offshore law firm Mossack Fonseca in 2015.
Galizia's blog posts about Malta's "cronyism" sometimes got 400,000 readers a day, which is more than all of Malta's newspapers combined, Politico reported.
In April, Galizia linked Muscat and two of his aides to offshore companies with "the sale of Maltese passports and payments from the government of Azerbaijan," The Guardian reported.
Azerbaijan’s national oil company recently became a shareholder in Malta's new power plant, The Guardian previously reported.
Muscat said her death resulted from a "barbaric attack" that also assaulted freedom of expression.
"In these moments, when the country is shocked by such a vicious attack, I call on everyone to measure their words, to not pass judgment and to show solidarity," Malta President Marie-Louise Coleiro Preca also said, The Guardian reported.
Local media reports said Galizia had been receiving death threats, which she reported to police 15 days ago.
Galizia is survived by her husband and three sons, The Guardian reported.
Deutsche Welle (DW) News, Germany
written by DW staff and Agencies
Tuesday October 17, 2017
Malta's most prominent investigative journalist has been killed in a car bombing, sending shockwaves across the European Union. She was well known for her work linked to the Panama Papers offshore banking revelations.
The killing of Maltese journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia sent shockwaves across Europe a day after her car exploded near her home, prompting the European Commission to condemn it in the "strongest possible terms" on Tuesday.
"We are horrified by the fact that the well-known and respected journalist Mrs. Daphne Caruana Galizia lost her life yesterday in what was seemingly a targeted attack," said Commission spokesman Margaritis Schinas.
"The right of a journalist to investigate, ask uncomfortable questions and report effectively is at the heart of our values and needs to be guaranteed at all times. We trust now that justice will be brought even if this will not be enough to right this wrong."
Caruana Galizia wrote extensively on corruption within the Maltese government. Her writing in the wake of the massive document leak commonly referred to as the Panama Papers forced an early elections in the EU country after it implicated two Maltese cabinet members.
'Crooks and imbeciles'
A known government critic, Caruana Galizia frequently accused Prime Minister Joseph Muscat of turning the island-nation into a "mafia island" by creating a culture of impunity. Hours after the car bombing, Muscat condemned the "barbaric act" perpetrated against the investigative journalist and called for a thorough investigation.
However, her son, Matthew Caruana Galizia, said on Tuesday that Muscat was complicit in the assassination of his mother.
"It is of little comfort for the prime minister of this country to say that he will 'not rest' until the perpetrators are found, when he heads a government that encouraged that same impunity," Matthew said in a post on Facebook.
"First he filled his office with crooks, then he filled the police with crooks and imbeciles, then he filled the courts with crooks and incompetents. If the institutions were already working, there would be no assassination to investigate – and my brothers and I would still have a mother."
Maltese citizens gathered together on Tuesday evening for a a vigil Tuesday in honor of the slain investigative journalist.
'Dark day for Maltese democracy'
While Caruana Galizia is the fourth person to die in a Malta car bombing in just over a year, hers was the only one to shock the Maltese public given her record as an outspoken government critic and journalist.
Press freedom groups have called on Maltese authorities to conduct an in-depth investigation and bring the perpetrators to justice. Staff at the International Federation of Journalists held signs calling for "justice for Daphne".
"Reporters Without Borders urges the Maltese authorities to shed all possible lighter on her murder and to identify those responsible," the press freedom group said in a statement. "This is a dark day for Maltese democracy, freedom of expression and journalism."
Malta ranked 47 out of 180 countries on Reporters Without Borders 2017 World Press Freedom Index.
Look at all of the countries in red, documented as the worst press freedom. Those countries are the glorified by the Democrats, Progressives, and Celebrities in our nation.
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