Maltese investigative journalist, Daphne Caruana Galizia was killed on Monday when a bomb exploded in her car. The journalist was involved in exposing Maltese links to offshore tax havens with the leaked Panama Papers.
The 53 year old journalist was driving away from her home in Mosta when a bomb was triggered. The impact toppled the car over a wall and into a field.
He went on to explain, “Everyone knows Caruana Galizia was a harsh critic of mine, both politically and personally. But nobody can justify this barbaric act in any way.”
Ms. Galizia examined the involvement of Maltese dignitaries in the 2016 Panama Papers leak. She revealed the Prime Minister Muscat and his wife had offshore holdings in Panama which received money from Azerbaijan.
However, both Muscat and his wife denied the allegations and stated they did not have companies in Panama.
About two weeks ago, Galizia filed a police report stating she was receiving death threats.
The investigative journalist had enemies among the opposition government as well. She made regular entries to her blog called Running Commentary. Recently she had linked opposition leader Adrian Delia to a prostitution racket in London for which she was sued.
Ms. Galizia also wrote a piece on Economy Minister Chris Cardona visiting a brothel while on government business in Germany.
Prime Minister Muscat reportedly reached out to the U.S., government and the FBI for help in the investigation.
A Greens member in the European Parliament, Sven Giegold said, “Daphne played a vitally important role in unearthing serious allegations of money laundering and corruption in Malta, including those involving senior figures in the Maltese government.”
