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The murder of Daphne Caruana Galizia
and what she revealed
by Lars Haagen Petersen
Daphne Caruana Galizia
Daphne Caruana Galizia (1964 – 2017)
On 16 October 2017, the influential Maltese journalist, Daphne Caruana Galizia, was killed by a car bomb close to her home in Bidnija approx. 3 km. from Mosta in Malta when she was on her way to the bank. The murder, in addition to anger and grief, triggered three years of political unrest, protests and unrest in Malta.
Protesters demand Prime Minister Joseph Muscat's resignation and justice
The film can be viewed by clicking on the image above
The film "Daphne was right" is an excellent documentary that pays tribute to the Maltese investigative journalist 5 years after her murder
"The documentary by Manuel Delia and Louiselle Vassallo covers some of her most prominent investigations published in 2016 and 2017 and highlights how accurate her findings were"
Producers: Repubblika, #occupyjustice, and manueldelia.com
Daphne Caruana Galizia was an internationally known journalist who, among other things, was at the forefront of the investigation of the so-called "Panama Papers" and of the corruption in the Maltese government, in the civil service and among Malta's powerful elite. Her blog 'Running Commentary' was one of the most read and influential in Malta and her journalism forced Prime Minister Joseph Muscat to step down in disgrace after it was revealed that he and his wife were mentioned in the Panama Papers*. For the same reason, she had many powerful enemies who might have had a motive to get her out of the way. According to reports, there have also been abuses in the past. Among her enemies, she was called "The Witch of Bidnija" after the village where she lived. According to reports, there had also been abuse in the past. Thus, i.a. three of the family's dogs have been killed and the family's home has been set on fire twice. One of the sons remembers i.a. how, as a 9-year-old, he found their dog lying in a pool of blood with its throat slit by the front door.
Daphne Caruana Galizia was a remarkable figure in
Malta's journalistic landscape Daphne Caruana Galizia was born on 26 August 1964 in
Sliema. She was the eldest of four daughters of businessman Michael Alfred Vella
and his wife Rose Marie Vella.
Daphne studied archeology and anthropology at the University of Malta as a
mature student, while continuing to write a regular column for the Sunday Times.
Daphne was Malta's first female columnist and the first to publish under her own
name. She began writing a column for Malta's Sunday Times in 1988, shortly after
her youngest son was born. Her column was unusual for its time - a mix of
commentary, opinion, reportage and analysis that shed light on the darkest
shadows. Her style was often satirical or humorous, which was new in the Maltese
media.
She started her blog in March 2008 when Malta was heading for elections and her
first post was titled: "Zero tolerance for corruption". The blog was where she
published most of her big stories, attracting a daily readership averaging
400,000 and sometimes up to a million.
Daphne Caruana Galizia died close to her home when a car bomb detonated inside
her vehicle on 16 October 2017. We cannot leave it up to questionable institutions
to do full justice to all those directly and indirectly responsible. Malta today
is an uncertain State where no one can tell where the conniving and criminal
activities end and the government begins. Pressure from the international
community continues to feel necessary.
Mark Said in Times of Malta 6 years after
Daphne Caruana Galizias death
The remains of Daphne Caruana Galizia's burned-out white rented
Peugeot 108 The execution
The place where Daphne
Caruana Galizia died According to information from the trial, it was Alfred Degiorgio who was
watching over Daphne Caruana Galizia's house on the day the bomb was set
off. He contacted his brother, George Degiorgio, who was on a yacht in the
Grand Harbor in Valletta when Daphne Caruana Galizia got into her car and
drove away. George Degiorgio then sent a text message from the yacht to a
mobile device that triggered the bomb. Vincent Muscat, also known as
il-Koħxu, is the third man accused of carrying out the murder of Daphne
Caruana Galizia. He has admitted his involvement in the car bombing that
killed the journalist. Muscat's precise role in the bombing was to place the
bomb that killed her and to have stored the explosives provided by Jamie
Vella and Robert Agius. Muscat had had the explosives lying in the weeks and
months leading up to the murder. Muscat had also participated in the
planning of the murder just as he had also participated in the surveillance,
where the three men used binoculars and telescopes for days to closely
observe Caruana Galizia's movements. According to Muscat, the plan was
initially to shoot Daphne Caruana Galizia in her home, but the plan changed
to using a car bomb. Yorgen Fenech, a businessman from Malta, is accused of
masterminding the murder of Daphne Caruana Galizia. The most important
witness against him is Melvin Theuma, who allegedly secretly recorded
conversations confirming the above. Investigators at Daphne Caruana Galizia's burnt-out
white Peugeot 108 The investigation The investigation into the murder of Daphne Caruana Galizia was carried
out by a number of different actors. Caruana Galizia's family requested an
independent public inquiry into her murder, which former prime minister
Joseph Muscat gave the go-ahead a few months before he resigned. Several
people have been questioned after the murder, including witnesses,
investigators, politicians and journalists. In addition, a thorough
investigation was carried out into the self-inflicted injuries of Crown
witness Melvin Theuma. Homicide Inspector Keith Arnaud, who led the
investigation into Caruana Galizia's murder, himself questioned Theuma about
his injuries. Theuma has stated that he had harmed himself out of remorse
for his participation in the murder and fear that his testimony would be
doubted. He was due to be cross-examined by the defense team the following
day. International aid In connection with the investigation into the murder of Daphne Caruana
Galizia, Malta has requested the help of international experts. Both
American, English and Dutch experts have assisted in the investigation.
Europol has also participated in the investigation together with the Maltese
police, contributing with the extraction of data from mobile phones and
computers that were seized during the investigation. A spokesman from
Europol has also stated that he considered that there was room for
improvement in relation to the cooperation with the Maltese police. The EU
has also tried several times to put pressure on the investigation that has
been going on accused of being too slow and inefficient. On April 27, 1922, the European Commission presented a directive to
combat strategic lawsuits against journalists and human rights defenders
(SLAPPs) used to censor and silence public critics. Daphne Caruana Galizia
was facing 43 civil and five criminal trials at the time of her death.
The place where the car was blown up
The Daphne Project
is a cross-border investigative journalism collaboration of major news
organizations from around the world. It is coordinated by the Paris-based
investigative non-profit newsroom,
Forbidden Stories, to continue
the work of Maltese investigative journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia.
The project was launched on April 17, 2018, and it published the first in a
series of reports by a consortium of 45 journalists from 18 news outlets to
complete Caruana Galizia’s investigative work. The journalists in The Daphne
Project work to unpack the circumstances around Caruana Galizia’s murder and
expose the corruption network in Malta that enabled it. All those who were arrested
Yorgen Fenech Yorgen Fenech: Is a Maltese businessman specializing, among other
things, in casinos and hotels in Malta. He was also head of the Tumas Group
and director of the Maltese-Azerbaijani-German company ElectroGas Malta.
Fenech was identified in 2018 as the owner of the Dubai-registered company
”17 Black”. The company was named in the Panama
Papers and Caruana Galizia had written about eight months before her death,
claiming the company had links to Joseph Muscat's chief of staff Keith
Schembri and to former energy minister Konrad Mizzi. Later, the research
group "The Daphne Project" found e-mails sent between "17 Black" and two
shell companies in Panama that either belonged to Mizzi or Schembri. These
e-mails mentioned, among other things, payments of up to $2 million for
unspecified services. At the time of Daphne Caruana Galizia's death, she was
investigating a controversial deal for a power plant in which Fenech was one
of the main shareholders and director. If convicted, Fenech would face life in prison on the murder charge and
between 20 and 30 years on the criminal conspiracy charge. Fenech, who was
arrested in 2019 as he tried to leave Malta on his yacht, has pleaded not
guilty to murder but has now been in custody for more than three years in
connection with the murder of Daphne Caruana Galizia. He has now complained
about his "prolonged detention" to the European Court of Human Rights in an
attempt to obtain release on bail and he has made 15 applications to be
released from preventive detention, but all attempts have failed. When did corruption take off in Malta? Corruption in Malta took off in 2013 when the Labor Party came to power after
a 15-year absence. Within months, public assets were sold to Azerbaijan and new
banks were licensed, making the island a haven for ever-increasing amounts of
dirty money. In addition, many rich Maltese moved their fortunes to offshore
companies in Panama and Dubai.
Malta's score on the Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI) has been deteriorating
for several years, reflecting serious corruption challenges affecting the island
state. With a score of 54 out of 100 on the CPI in 2023, Malta hit a historic
low, well below the Western European average. A bit of Maltese corruption history Incidentally, Fenech offered himself as a witness after the apprehension,
promising information about the murder case and other offenses in exchange
for immunity. However, the request was not granted.
Melvin Theuma
Melvin Theuma a former taxi driver and lottery operator. Was stopped
with an amount equivalent to over 130.000 Euro in cash on the way on board a
flight to Istanbul. He has admitted to being the go-between in the alleged
contract killing of Daphne Caruana Galizia. Theuma has given evidence
against Fenech. He had secretly recorded various conversations between
himself, Fenech and others, and was granted a presidential pardon to
cooperate with the police and to tell all in 2019. Theuma recorded
these conversations as a form of 'insurance'. Sensing that this was going to
end badly, he made sure that if he went down, he wouldn't be alone. These
recordings were later handed over to the police following his arrest in
November 2019.
Robert
Agius Robert Agius was
Adrian Agius
Adrian Agius was Accused of complicity in the murder of Daphne Caruana
Galizia. Pleaded not guilty. Also known as one of the 'Tal-Maksar' brothers,
he was also accused of participating in another murder, the killing of a
lawyer named Carmel Chircop in 2015. Carmel Chircop was a 51-year-old lawyer
from Malta who was found dead in a multi-storey garage in Birkirkara in
2015. He was killed on the morning of October 8, 2015, as he walked to the
Birkirkara garage complex, where he died from four gunshot wounds to his
upper body. The murder of Chircop remained unsolved until Vincent Muscat
received a pardon for his role in the killing in exchange for evidence
against his accomplices.
George and Alfred Degiorgio
George Degiorgio:
Brother of Alfred. Was sentenced to 40 years in prison after pleading guilty
to the murder of Daphne Caruana Galizia. He was also accused of but denied
having committed the murder of Chircop.
Jamie Vella.
Jamie Vella is accused of complicity in the murder on journalist Daphne
Caruana Galizia. He and Robert Agius are also accused of having delivered
the bomb used to kill Caruana Galizia in October 2017. The two men are
believed also being part of a criminal organization. Pleaded not guilty.
Vincent Muscat Vincent Muscat, also known as il-Koħħu, is one of the three men who were
charged with planning and executing the car bomb that killed journalist
Daphne Caruana Galizia in 2017. He is the first person to have been
convicted for the murder. Muscat pleaded guilty to the crime and was
sentenced to 15 years in prison. He is believed to have acted as a hitman in
a contract to kill the journalist. He has reportedly negotiated a more
lenient sentence in exchange for providing prosecutors with information
about others involved. He has also been granted a presidential pardon to
help shed light on an entirely separate case - the murder of a lawyer,
Carmel Chircop, in 2015. And the others
Johann Cremona is a key figure in the case of the murder of
Daphne Caruana Galizia. He is a crucial link between Yorgen Fenech, the
prime suspect, and Melvin Theuma, who has become a state witness. Cremona is
the director of the gaming companies Bestplay and Oracle Gaming, which were
part of Fenech’s Tumas Group business empire. He is also a close confidant
of Theuma. Secret recordings revealed that it was Cremona who informed Fenech about
Theuma’s secret tapes.
Kenneth Camilleri Kenneth Camilleri also known as Kenneth ‘From Castille’ (office of the
Prime Minister), is a former security guard for the Office of the Prime
Minister (OPM) of Malta. He has been linked to the case of the murder of
journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia. According to witness testimonies, there
were at least three meetings between state witness Melvin Theuma and Kenneth
Camilleri in the aftermath of the murder. Camilleri has also been linked to
a covert €3 million bail request for the three men charged with carrying out
the murder.
Kenneth Camilleri has not been convicted. He has been linked to the case of
the murder of journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia and has appeared in court in
relation to this case. However, the prosecution informed the court that
Camilleri was not being investigated about the murder but on events that
happened after the assassination.
The police have connected 7 people with the murder of Daphne Caruana
Galizia. Grafik: Christian Busuttil/Design Studio. The verdicts So far, three verdicts have been handed down
in the case of the murder of Daphne Caruana Galizia. Resignations related to the murder of Daphne Caruana Galizia
Joseph Muscat (born 22 January 1974) is a Maltese politician and
Prime Minister from 2013 to 2020. He was the leader of the Labor
Party from 2008 to 2020. He resigned from his position in
January 2020. Muscat announced his resignation in a televised
address, where he said he would step down as leader of the Labor
Party on 12 January 2018 and as Prime Minister "in the days
after". His resignation came in the wake of a constitutional and
political crisis triggered by the murder of investigative
journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia. Muscat has always denied any
wrongdoing and has never been charged or convicted. He was
criticized for his handling of the investigation into the
murder, particularly after it emerged that his chief of staff,
Keith Schembri, had links to Yorgen Fenech, the businessman
accused of complicity in the murder.
Keith Schembri
Konrad Mizzi
Konrad Mizzi (born 4 November 1977) is a born maltese politician and
Member of Parliament until 2022. He was Minister of Energy and Water
Conservation between 2013 and 2014, Minister of Energy and Health from 2014
to 2016, and as a Minister within the Prime Minister's Office in April 2016.
Mizzi was re-elected on 3 June 2017 with four times the votes of the 2013
election. He was then appointed by Prime Minister Joseph Muscat to serve as
Minister of Tourism from 9 June 2017 until his resignation in 2019. Mizzi
was forced to resign from his ministerial post due to of his connections to
criminal circles. He was later expelled from the Labor Party parliamentary
group after reports revealed the extent of his involvement in the Montenegro
wind farm scandal (involving the Maltese state energy company Enemalta, the
Dubai-based company "17 Black"**, Yorgen Fenech, and a number of Maltese
politicians), which sparked public outrage. Mizzi himself stated that he
resigned "in light of political, extraordinary and general circumstances in
the country" and stressed that he had not done anything criminal. Despite
the serious charges, Mizzi is not in prison.
Chris Cardona
Chris Cordana is former Economy Minister in Malta, and resigned from his
position after being named in court in connection with the murder of Daphne
Caruana Galizia. Cardona was mentioned several times in the trial by Melvin
Theuma, who acted as an intermediary in the murder of Caruana Galizia.
Cardona was accused of paying for the murder of Caruana Galizia through his
campaign worker, Anthony Chetcuti, known as il-Biglee, who collaborated with
Alfred Degiorgio, one of the killers. Cardona was actually also arrested and
questioned by the police, but due to lack of evidence he was released.
Cardona and lawyer David Gatt were also said to have provided €400,000 to
the killers at the start of the trial. Cardona has strongly denied all the
allegations, calling them "nonsense, based on lies". Cardona was not
appointed to the cabinet of Robert Abela, who was installed as Prime
Minister following the resignation of Joseph Muscat on 13 January 2020, and
in April 2020 Cardona resigned as an MP but retained his position as Deputy
President of the Labor Party. After the murder of Daphne, another 4 journalists within the EU have been
murdered: Journalists who were subsequently murdered: Jan Kuciak: A Slovak journalist who was murdered on February 21, 2018. Viktoria Marinova: A Bulgarian journalist who was murdered on October 6,
2018. Giorgos Karaivaz: A Greek TV reporter who was shot outside his home on April
9, 2021. Peter R. de Vries: A Dutch journalist who was shot in Amsterdam on July 6,
2021 and later died of his injuries.
The names of the other murdered journalists
The makeshift memorial for Daphne Caruana Galizia in Valletta
A public inquiry into the murder of Maltese investigative
journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia was conducted by a jury of three judges in
Malta. The investigation found that the state had to bear responsibility for her
death. It concluded that the state failed to recognize the risks to her life and
take reasonable steps to avoid them. Conclusions from the public inquiry into the murder
Link to: Daphne Caruana Galizia Foundation news in english
The expected further progress in the case:
The police and prosecutor's office continue to work
on the murder case as we approach the 6th anniversary of the murder. October 16, 2023 - Jamie Vella, one of the men
accused of delivering the bomb that killed journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia, is
asking to have evidence and the judge removed from the case.
However, the assassination of Daphne Caruana Galizias is not the only one
that has happened in Malta in recent years. Thus, John Camilleri, a
well-known businessman, was killed in a car bomb explosion early in the
morning on October 31, 2016. The bomb, also placed under the driver's seat
of his car, detonated while he was driving in St. Paul's Bay. The explosion
was so powerful that it threw Camilleri's body out of the car.
Furthermore, over the years, several people in Malta have been killed and
even more injured in explosions from bombs planted outside homes, in cars
and elsewhere.
Daphne Caruana Galizia: As mentioned an investigative journalist, she
was killed in a car bomb attack near her house.
Romeo Bone: He survived a car bomb attack in February 2017 but lost
both his legs.
Victor Calleja: Known as Ic-Chippu, he died when a bomb detonated in
his car in Marsa in January 2017.
John Camilleri: Known as Giovanni tas-Sapun, he died when a bomb
under his seat detonated at St Pauls bay on 31 October 2016.
Martin Cachia: He was killed when a bomb detonated inside his car on
16 January 2016.
Over the past two decades (2003-2022), a staggering total of 1,668
journalists have been killed worldwide in the course of their work.
This gives an average of more than 80 journalists killed each year.
The number of journalists killed reached its peak in 2012 and 2013, with 144
and 142 killed respectively.
The two countries with the highest number of journalists killed are Iraq and
Syria, with a combined total of 578 killed in the last 20 years, which is
more than a third of the total worldwide.
In 2022, 86 journalists were killed worldwide. Of these, 61 were killed
outside war zones. That represents three-quarters of all killings of
journalists that year.
The car bomb - presumably plastic explosive of the semtex type - was placed
underneath the driver's seat of her car and triggered shortly after an
observer relayed the message that Daphne Caruana Galizia had left her home
in her car. The bomb was triggered electronically from a boat in Valletta's
harbour. On the night of October 15, 2017, the assassins noticed that Daphne
Caruana Galizia, against custom, had parked her car outside the gate of her
home. They took the opportunity to plant the bomb, which was hidden in a
shoebox. 
"At the same time, the Commission adopts a supplementary recommendation to
encourage Member States to also adapt their rules to the legislative
proposal as regards national cases and all types of legal proceedings, not
only in the civil area. The recommendation also calls on Member States to
take a number of other measures, among other things in education and
information, with a view to combating SLAPP."
An example of their work is an article by Laurent Richard titled “A warning
to the corrupt: if you kill a journalist, another will take their place”,
which was published in The Guardian on April 16, 2018. It was the first in
the series, and Richard’s message was to let “those who tried to stop Daphne
Caruana Galizia’s work in Malta” know that they failed.
Johann Cremona
Theuma has testified that Cremona was the one who arranged the infamous
meeting with former OPM Security Guard Kenneth ‘From Castille’ Camilleri.
During this meeting, Camilleri detailed a rescue plan for the three men
charged with Caruana Galizia’s murder.
Cremona is also connected to allegations around Labour Party Deputy Party
Leader Chris Cardona. Under cross-examination from lawyer Jason Azzopardi
about an alleged murder fee of €350,000 revealed in secret recordings,
Theuma told the court that he was told that Cardona had a financial
connection to the alleged triggerman Alfred Degiorgio via an intermediary
“whose name began with ‘B’”.
Brothers George Degiorgio, 59, Alfred Degiorgio, 57, and accomplice Vincent
Muscat, 59, were arrested in December 2017 and charged with planning and
carrying out the murder of Daphne Caruana Galizia. The 2 brothers were both
sentenced to 40 years in prison for their roles in the assassination. They
have also been ordered to pay €42,930 each in court costs and have had a
further €50,000 of their criminal proceeds confiscated. Muscat is said to
have negotiated a lighter sentence in exchange for handing over information
to the state prosecutor about the others involved. Incidentally, he has also
previously received a presidential pardon to help shed light on a completely
different case - the murder of a lawyer, Carmel Chircop in 2015.
A public inquiry into the murder of Daphne Caruana Galizia found the state
complicit in her death. The report concluded that the Maltese authorities,
whose job it was to look after her, had failed to take the threats to her
life seriously.
Joseph
Muscat
How many more can we accept? .
Malta has made progress in following up on EU recommendations. According to the
"Rule of Law Report 2023", Malta has followed up on 65% of last year's
recommendations, either fully or partially.
Charges have been brought against Robert Agius and Jamie Vella for
delivering the car bomb that killed Daphne Caruana Galizia in 2017. They are
both known to police for links to organized crime. It is not yet known when
judgments can be handed down.
The case against Yorgen Fenech, who is also charged with complicity in the
murder, is also still pending. Although the indictment was filed on August 18,
2021, it is expected to take two to four years before Fenech faces a jury. A
date has not yet been set for the trial.Fenech still pleads not guilty.
He is requesting the deletion of all CCTV footage and still images taken from
them that the prosecution plan to use in the Chircop murder case. This is
because the owners of the CCTV cameras in question have not been called to
testify in evidence, nor have they been included in the witness list at trial.
This means that the recordings and any reference to them would be circumstantial
evidence.
The request for the judge's removal is because the judge, Nadine Lia, is married
to a lawyer who is the son of Paul Lia, a lawyer who has provided services to
the Labor Party and is also Joseph Muscat's lawyer. After nearly three hours of
deliberation, Lia decided that although there was nothing in the law requiring
her to do so, in the interests of justice and the sensitivity of the case, she
would withdraw. The case must now be assigned to another judge.