Police arrest 10 in journalist’s killing
Ten Maltese suspects were arrested Monday over the Oct. 16 car-bomb murder of investigative journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia, Malta’s prime minister and other authorities announced.
Prime Minister Joseph Muscat told reporters at a news conference that eight Maltese citizens were arrested on Monday morning due to a “reasonable suspicion” of their involvement in Caruana Galizia’s slaying. Shortly afterward, he tweeted that two others had been arrested. Home Minister Michael Farrugia said the two additional suspects are also Maltese.
Caruana Galizia, whose reporting focused heavily on corruption on the European Union island nation, was killed when a bomb destroyed her car as she was driving near her home.
Declining to give details on the arrests, Muscat cited concerns any information could compromise prospects to successfully prosecute the case. Farrugia said he wouldn’t go into details because “I have been already threatened by legal action by the Caruana Galizia family.”
Her family last month had alleged that Farrugia had divulged confidential information that could hamper the investigation. The minister brushed off the allegation, but the family said it was prepared to take legal action to prevent the government from sabotaging the investigation.
The investigation appeared to be continuing throughout Monday, as police and armed forces had cordoned off an area in Marsa, a small port town close to Valletta, the capital.
The arrests were the first known break in the murder that has drawn widespread outrage and condemnation. A court hearing for the suspects was set for Tuesday.
Europol, the European Union’s police agency, has sent a team of organized crime experts to help Maltese police investigate the assassination, joining the FBI and Dutch forensic experts.
Just before her death, Caruana Galizia, 53, had posted on her closely followed blog, Running Commentary, that there were “crooks everywhere” in Malta.
She focused her reporting for years on investigating political corruption and scandals, and reported on Maltese mobsters and drug trafficking. She also wrote about Maltese links to the so-called Panama Papers leaks about offshore financial havens.