Journalist who exposed Panama Papers murdered
Journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia, who was recently killed in a brutal bomb attack, was once described as the “WikiLeaks matriarch”.
According to the Guardian (UK), the female journalist who led the investigation into corruption in the Republic of Malta, Ms. Daphne Caruana Galizia, was murdered in a bomb attack on her car near her home.
Daphne Caruana Galizia died on the afternoon of October 16 when her car, a Peugeot 108, exploded into hundreds of pieces when a bomb planted in the car was detonated.
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| Investigative journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia poses for a photo outside the Libyan embassy in Valletta, the capital of Malta. Photo: Reuters |
As a journalist whose personal blog posts attract more readers than all the newspapers in Malta combined, the Politico website recently described Daphne Caruana Galizia as the "WikiLeaks Mistress".
Her blogs are a thorn in the side not only of Maltese government officials but also of powerful underworld figures with the power to shake up Europe's smallest member state.
Over the past two years, most of her published articles have focused on exposing the dark side of the Panama Papers, a series of 11.5 million leaked documents about tax evasion schemes by individuals and organizations around the world linked to the law firm Mossack Fonseca.
Her most recent investigative revelations have targeted the affairs of Malta's prime minister, Joseph Muscat, and two of his closest aides.
She pointed to the links between front companies and the three men in the sale of Maltese passports and payments from the Azerbaijani government.
No organization or individual has yet claimed responsibility for the assassination of Daphne Caruana Galizia.
Maltese President Marie-Louise Coleiro Preca called for calm in the wake of the attack. "At this moment, when the whole country is horrified by the attack, I urge everyone to be careful with their words, not to rush to judgment, and to show solidarity," she said.
After a dismal general election this summer, political observers in Malta fear a repeat of the political violence that devastated Malta in the 1980s.
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| Forensic experts collect evidence at the scene of a car bomb attack that killed a female Maltese investigative journalist. Photo: Reuters |
In a statement after the incident, Prime Minister Muscat condemned the "barbaric attack", saying he had asked the police force to ask security agencies of other countries to assist in the investigation and hunt down the perpetrators.
"Everyone knows that Ms Caruana Galizia has been a fierce critic of me, both politically and personally, but no one can be held responsible for this barbaric attack in any way," Mr Muscat said.
Later, before the parliament, the Prime Minister of Malta also said that agents of the US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) were on their way to Malta to assist in the investigation after Mr. Muscat sent a request to the US government for help./.
According to VOV
