It is two years since the Maltese journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia was murdered by a car bomb. She worked as an investigative journalist and was known for her revelations about political corruption and at the time of the murder she worked with the so-called Panama Papers.
Urban Hamid has been in Malta a lot and has had contact with the murdered journalist's family. He sees similarities between the murder of her and the murder of Saudi Arabian journalist Jamal Khachoggi 2018.
- Both murders are terribly bestial and in both cases it is obvious that there are links to the government of each country. The connections are very clear and we are not used to that, says Urban Hamid.
"Prime Minister's departure is not enough"Each year, Reporters Without Borders ranks countries based on the situation of press freedom and freedom for journalists. On that list, Malta has dropped 30 placements in two years.
- Malta is in place 77. This means that they are starting to approach dictatorships when it comes to freedom of the press, says Urban Hamid.
There has long been speculation on the Prime Minister's involvement. The prime minister's former chief of staff is one of the suspects for the murder of Daphne Caruana Galizia and several ministers have already resigned after it emerged that there are links to the assassination. Urban Hamid thinks that the Prime Minister's departure is not enough.
- We focus so much on the Prime Minister's resignation, but those who are guilty must be prosecuted, says Urban Hamid.