ARRESTS MADE IN CAR-BOMB KILLING OF JOURNALIST
VALLETTA, MALTA Ten Maltese suspects were arrested Monday over the car bomb slaying of a prominent investigative journalist, the prime minister and other authorities said, about six weeks after the assassination that shocked Malta and drew European Union pressure to ensure rule of law here.
Daphne Caruana Galizia, pictured, whose reporting focused heavily on corruption on the EU island nation, was killed Oct. 16 when a bomb destroyed her car as she was driving near her home.
Eight Maltese citizens were arrested because of a “reasonable suspicion” of their involvement in Caruana Galizia’s killing, Prime Minister Joseph Muscat told reporters. Shortly afterward, he tweeted that two others had been arrested.
Declining to give details on the arrests, Muscat cited concerns any information could compromise prospects to successfully prosecute the case.
On Monday, her family reacted angrily to how the arrests were announced — saying police should have informed the family, not Muscat first — and reiterating in a statement their uncertainty if justice will be carried out, despite the prime minister’s public insistence earlier in the day that all would be done to solve the case.
Muscat “appears to view the investigation into Daphne Caruana Galizia’s assassination as a marketing exercise for his government and not as a contract killing, which has left surviving family members wondering what happened and how justice can be truly served,” the family said.