Europol to help probe Maltese journalist murder

VALLETTA: Three investigators from Europol will be travelling to Malta to help the probe into the murder of Maltese journalist and anti-corruption campaigner Daphne Caruana Galizia, police said Thursday.

Investigators on the island are already being assisted by FBI officers and Dutch forensic police.

The move to involve the European Union’s Agency for Law Enforcement Cooperation, whose officers are expected to touch down before the end of the week, comes following pressure from the European Parliament.

Parliament chief Antonio Tajani on Tuesday demanded an international investigation into

It is clear that we need to restore faith in the proper functioning of our institutions and democracy.

the car bomb murder amid fears that the assassination would not be fairly handled by national investigators.

The police provided few clues as to how the investigation was going, warning only that it was too early to speculate whether Semtex or TNT had been the explosive used.

Samples taken from the crime scene had been sent to foreign laboratories for testing, it said in a statement.

Teams were also working round the clock on tip-offs provided by the general public on the October 16 murder, which made headlines around the world.

The killing prompted much soul-searching on the island of 430,000 people over whether the country was becoming a cesspit of corruption against the backdrop of an economic boom in which organised crime and moneylaundering have reportedly flourished.

On Thursday evening, a group of female protesters set up camp in Malta’s historic Castille Square for a four-day sit-in to call for the country’s police chief and attorney general to be sacked.

“It is clear that we need to restore faith in the proper functioning of our institutions and democracy.

“For this to be done and to be seen to be done, our leaders need to act and quickly,” the group said in a statement.

“This is not the Malta we recognise.

“We want safety, protection, honesty, transparency,” it added.

The three sons of Caruana Galizia sent the protesters a pizza with bay leaves from their mother’s garden, explaining it was a symbol of “strength and courage”. — AFP

Protest group