Murdered journalists’ sons call for Maltese prime minister to go
Th e so n s o f mu r d e r e d i nve st i g a t i v e jo u r n a l i s t Daphne Caruana Galizia have called on the Maltese prime minister to resign.
In a Facebook post, they said Joseph Muscat should take political responsibility for “failing to uphold our fundamental freedoms”.
Mat th e w, A n d r e w a n d Paul Caruana Galizia said th e y we r e no t en d o r s - in g Mr Musc at ’s c a l l f o r a r eward to l ead to t heir mother’s as sa s s i ns, adding: “We are not interested in justice without change.
“We ar e no t in t e r e s t - ed i n a c r i mi na l c o nv i c - tion, only for the people in go v e r n m e n t wh o st o o d to gain from our mother’s murder to turn around and say t hat j ustice has b een served.”
Ms Ca r u a n a Ga l i z i a , a harsh critic of Mr Muscat who reported extensively on c orr upt i on on Malta , was killed by a car bomb on Monday.
Her sons wrote that identifying their mother’s assassins is not enough. Corruption on the Mediterranean island nation also needs to b e ro oted out, they said.
Mr Muscat has denounced t he as s a s s i na ti o n, a nd pr o- po s e d a r e wa rd t o f i n d h e r killers.
Ye st e r day, 2 00 j ournal is t s held an event in support of Ms Caruana Galizia.
Th e In s t i t u t e o f Ma l t e s e Journalists has filed a cour t case seeking to ensure source confidentiality on all data lifted f rom her computers and mo b i l e ph o n e s du r i n g th e investigation.
Investigators are looking at similarities with five other car b ombings i n Malta over the last two years, none of which have been solved.
Former police commissioner John Rizzo told the Malta Independent it appears that mo b i l e ph o n e - d e t o n a t e d explosives were used in each of the six bombings since the st a r t of 2 016, which c a us e d four deaths and t wo serious injuries.
The previous victims were all known to police, the paper said.
“Very few people could construct such a bomb. Instructions may be obtained online bu t b u i l d i n g su c h ad e v i c e would still require a cer tain degree of skill,” Mr Rizzo said.
Investigators have not publicly identified which explo - s ives were used in t he j our - nalist’s murder, but exp er t s say militar y grade explosives such as Semtex are not available in Malta and would have to be brought in from abroad.
M r Mu s c a t de f e n d e d th e failure to solve the rash of car b o mbi ng s a s h e l e f t p a r l i a - ment on Wednesday evening. I ncluding t he l ast si x, t here have been more than 30 in the last 15 years on the island.
“I will continue to defend the i nstitutions and I am af i rm believer in the institutions,” he said.