Journalist Daphne Galizia, who exposed Malta’s ‘Panama Papers’ link, killed in car blast

Daphne Galizia revealed that the wife of Malta's Prime Minister, as well as Mr. Muscat’s Energy Minister and the government’s chief-of-staff held companies in Panama.

October 17, 2017 09:11 am | Updated December 03, 2021 12:46 pm IST - VALLETTA, Malta

 Investigative journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia was killed on Monday when a bomb destroyed her car as she was driving near her home.

Investigative journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia was killed on Monday when a bomb destroyed her car as she was driving near her home.

Maltese investigative journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia, who exposed her island nation’s links to offshore tax havens through the leaked Panama Papers was killed on Monday in a bomb explosion in her car, Malta’s Prime Minister Joseph Muscat said.

Ms. Galizia, 53, had just driven away from her home in Mosta, a town outside Malta’s capital of Valletta, when the bomb went off, sending the vehicle’s wreckage spiraling over a wall and into a field.

Mr. Muscat says Galizia’s death resulted from a “barbaric attack” that also amounted to an assault on the freedom of expression. He said she “was one of my harshest critics, on a political and personal level,” as he denounced her slaying.

 

Politico magazine named Ms. Galizia as one of 28 Europeans who are “shaping, shaking and stirring” Europe. She revealed that Mr. Muscat’s wife, Michelle, as well as Muscat’s Energy Minister and the government’s chief-of-staff held companies in Panama by looking into the 2016 document leak. Mr. Muscat and his wife have denied that they held such companies.

Opposition leader Adrian Delia called the killing a “political murder.”

Ms. Galizia was sued for libel because of various articles she wrote on her blog “Running Commentary,” and she had filed a report with the police two weeks ago that she was receiving threats.

Monday evening’s Parliament session was scrapped, except for briefings about the bombing scheduled to be given by Mr. Muscat and Mr. Delia.

In June, Mr. Muscat was sworn in for a second term as Prime Minister following snap elections he had called to reinforce his government as the Panama Papers’ leak indicated his wife owned an offshore company.

Top News Today

Sign in to unlock member-only benefits!
  • Access 10 free stories every month
  • Save stories to read later
  • Access to comment on every story
  • Sign-up/manage your newsletter subscriptions with a single click
  • Get notified by email for early access to discounts & offers on our products
Sign in

Comments

Comments have to be in English, and in full sentences. They cannot be abusive or personal. Please abide by our community guidelines for posting your comments.

We have migrated to a new commenting platform. If you are already a registered user of The Hindu and logged in, you may continue to engage with our articles. If you do not have an account please register and login to post comments. Users can access their older comments by logging into their accounts on Vuukle.