The Maltese government's "culture of impunity" has created favorable conditions for the assassination of journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia, according to the results, released Thursday, July 29, of an independent investigation conducted by a judge and two magistrates at the retirement.

The execution of Daphne Caruana Galizia in 2017 sent shock waves through the Mediterranean island, the smallest member country of the European Union, already overwhelmed by a wave of corruption, money laundering and scandals. influence peddling within government.

>> To see, our Focus: "Malta: return to the affair which caused the fall of the Prime Minister"

Daphne Caruana Galizia, 53, had exposed many of the cases and was loved by her readers, who saw her as a fearless journalist on a crusade against corruption.

Her detractors considered her more like a dreamer coupled with a "nosy".

The prosecution accused Yorgen Fenech, a renowned businessman who had close ties to the island's upper political sphere, and accused him of having ordered the murder of the journalist specializing in corruption cases.

The independent inquiry, the results of which were released Thursday, shows that the government of the day, led by Labor Joseph Muscat, had developed a culture of impunity at the highest echelons of Maltese power.

"The tentacles of impunity"

"The tentacles of impunity have spread over other administrative bodies and the police, causing a collapse of the rule of law", say the authors of the investigation, who accuse the Maltese government of having ignored the risks run by Daphne Caruana Galizia and to have refrained from having remedied them.

According to the magistrates, there is no doubt that the assassination of the journalist was directly or indirectly linked to her work.

Himself a former journalist, Joseph Muscat resigned in January 2020 following the arrest of Yorgen Fenech, but has never been formally accused of the slightest embezzlement.

With Reuters

The summary of the week

France 24 invites you to come back to the news that marked the week

I subscribe

Take international news everywhere with you!

Download the France 24 application

google-play-badge_FR