GUILTY Malta - Daphne Caruana Galizia, 53, Journalist killed by car bomb, 16 Oct 2017

[ZaZara]

Hi @Legally Bland , I only just discovered this thread, I did not know we had it on WS. Thanks for keeping up the good work!


I have been following the developments in the Daphne case through the TL of Dutch MP Pieter Omtzigt, also rapporteur for the Council of Europe.

‘The Maltese can get through this stronger, prouder than before’ – Omtzigt
The Council of Europe’s Special Rapporteur Pieter Omtzigt tells The Shift Joseph Muscat must resign immediately, in the national interest, defining the current government as ‘a shameless regime’.

Omtzigt is the author of the report on Malta titled ‘Daphne Caruana Galizia’s Assassination and the Rule of Law in Malta and Beyond: Ensuring that the Whole Truth Emerges’ adopted by PACE in May that lists the scandals hounding the Maltese government that Caruana Galizia had revealed. The resolution had set a deadline for the launch of an independent and impartial public inquiry, that will commence next week.

Picture of his header on Twitter:

 

[imstilla.grandma]

Explore CPJ's database of attacks on the press

 

[imstilla.grandma]

@Legally Bland Thank you so much for starting this thread. I’ve been following it through another thread. She deserves a thread of her own.

 

[Legally Bland]

@Legally Bland Thank you so much for starting this thread. I’ve been following it through another thread. She deserves a thread of her own.

Your welcome. I meant to start it when it first happened but I never got round to it. She does deserve her own thread.

 

[imstilla.grandma]

 

[imstilla.grandma]

On Friday—amid mounting protests against his government—he told associates that he planned to resign as prime minister; yesterday, he made that official, announcing on state television that he’ll step down in January. Some observers—including Caruana Galizia’s family and the Times of Malta’s editorial board—want him gone sooner. “Muscat has delayed his resignation in an attempt to continue protecting himself and Schembri,” the family wrote. “There is no alternative explanation.”
After more than two years, the Daphne Caruana Galizia murder case leaps forward

 

[ZaZara]

Inside the plot to kill Daphne Caruana Galizia

Inside the plot to kill Daphne Caruana Galizia
The key events leading up to the October 2017 car bombing



April 2017: ‘Can you come to Portomaso?’
Melvin Theuma’s phone rings at 4.30am. His friend Yorgen Fenech is on the line.

The taxi driver has just finished a shift working the taxi rank at Portomaso.

He is one of 10 taxi drivers given the exclusive right by Tumas Group’s senior management to ply his trade outside the Hilton hotel.

Theuma had established a friendship with the Tumas Group magnate based on a mutual love for horses and gambling.

According to Theuma’s testimony, Fenech makes the following request: “Do you know George ċ-Ċiniz? I need him… Get in contact with him, I want to kill Daphne Caruana Galizia because she’s about to publish information about by Uncle Ray.”


BBM

 

[ZaZara]

Tim Röhn on Twitter

Tim Röhn @Tim_Roehn Reporter

#Malta: Keith Schembri, chief of staff of Prime Minister
@JosephMuscat_JM, is now officially a suspect in the case of the murdered journalist #DaphneCaruanaGalizia. When asked to hand over his phone to investigators, he said he lost it. And Muscat? Still in power. Mafia state!


BBM

 

[Legally Bland]

Outsider Robert Abela is set to become Malta’s new prime minister after the downfall of previous leader Joseph Muscat over the investigation into the murder of an investigative journalist.

Abela, who is seen as representing continuity, was elected leader of the Labour party on Sunday, meaning he automatically takes the role of prime minister.

In the election run-up Abela did not criticise Muscat, who had announced in December he would quit following widespread anger over his perceived efforts to protect friends and allies from a probe into the 2017 car bombing murder of Daphne Caruana Galizia.

Muscat, 45, was set to resign on Sunday.

Malta gets new PM after Muscat departs over Daphne Caruana Galizia murder

 

[Legally Bland]

1st Jan 2020

The One Free Press Coalition, a united group of pre-eminent editors and publishers using their global reach and social platforms to spotlight journalists under attack worldwide, today issued its 11th “10 Most Urgent” list of journalists whose press freedoms are being suppressed or whose cases are seeking justice.

Topping the list was Malta journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia, who was murdered in October 2017 after receiving numerous death threats regarding her controversial political reporting. Only recently has the Malta government acknowledged their mishandling of the murder case, with the country’s prime minister, Joseph Muscat, announcing his forthcoming resignation on Jan. 12 as a result.

Malta Journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia tops ‘10 Most Urgent’ list of press freedom cases - The Boston Globe

 

[ZaZara]

Investigator forced out of Daphne case holidayed with Yorgen Fenech

Former deputy police chief Silvio Valletta travelled abroad with Yorgen Fenech when the business magnate had already been identified as a person of interest in the Daphne Caruana Galizia murder investigation.

On September 29, 2018, Mr Valletta, who had been part of the team of investigators working on the Caruana Galizia case, travelled to London with the business tycoon to watch a football match at Chelsea FC’s Stamford Bridge stadium.

The businessman was eventually arrested and charged with his involvement in the murder last November, two months after deputy commissioner Valletta had retired from the police force.

His withdrawal from the case came 10 months after activists campaigned for Mr Valletta to be barred from holding a role at the FIAU due to a conflict of interest because of his marriage to Gozo Minister Justyne Caruana.

The FIAU is a government body that investigates money laundering and terrorism funding


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[ZaZara]

Middleman in Malta journalist's murder suffers serious knife injuries


Middleman in Malta journalist's murder suffers serious knife injuries

VALLETTA (Reuters) - The self-confessed middleman in the murder of Maltese anti-corruption journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia was in critical condition on Wednesday with knife injuries to his throat and torso, authorities and local media said.

Melvin Theuma, a former taxi driver, was granted a presidential pardon in November to reveal all about the car bomb murder which shocked in the Mediterranean island in October 2017.

His evidence so far has implicated top businessman Yorgen Fenech, the alleged mastermind who was arrested in late November and accused of complicity in the murder. He is awaiting trial and denies the charge.

“First indications are that Melvin Theuma self-harmed but investigations are continuing,” police said in a statement, suggesting attempted suicide.

The statement said Theuma was found late Tuesday in a pool of blood at his residence by officers who were mounting a round-the-clock guard outside. They were alerted by a lawyer who said he could not reach Theuma by phone.

Media reported Theuma’s wounds included serious injuries to his vocal cords and abdomen.

The incident happened hours before Theuma was due to continue to give evidence in a Valletta court.


BBM


Twiitterfeed of Pieter Omtzigt @PieterOmtzigt

De kroongetuige in de moordzaak op de Maltese journaliste Daphne Caruana Galizia is de dag voordat hij zou getuigen opgenomen met ernstige steekwonden (Hij zou zijn eigen keel hebben doorgesneden en zichzelf 6 maal gestoken hebben...)

The key witness in the murder case of the Maltese journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia was admitted to hospital the day before he was to testify with serious stab wounds (he would have slit his own throat and stabbed himself 6 times...)

 

[Legally Bland]

There's a 60 Minutes documentary on Daphne/Malta.

Known simply as "Daphne," her writing made her a household name in Malta—and a reviled figure in some corners of the country. Government officials vilified Caruana Galizia, who was subject to libel suits and death threats.

Her son told 60 Minutes that he believes her gender played a role in how some of her story subjects reacted to her work.

"The fact that she was a woman doing this reporting, leveling these allegations on her blog, made people in Malta … even angrier that a woman would dare to speak out like this," Levine said.

Journalists around the world are now determined to make sure her work won't go unfinished. The Daphne Project, a consortium of major international news organizations, including Reuters and The Guardian, have picked up where she left off. ​

Finishing the work of a murdered journalist

 

[ZaZara]

Omtzigt: moordonderzoek Maltese journaliste moet doorgaan

The public investigation into the murder of the Maltese investigative journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia can never be stopped. That is what CDA MP Pieter Omtzigt writes in a letter to the Prime Minister of Malta, Robert Abela. The letter appears also on the front page of all newspapers in Malta.

Omtzigt has been appointed by the Council of Europe as special rapporteur to investigate the murder and its aftermath. He found serious flaws in the Maltese rule of law.

Galizia died in October 2017 as a result of a bomb attack on her car. The 53-year-old investigative journalist wrote a lot about corruption cases in Malta. She often referred to politicians, including the then Prime Minister Muscat and some of his ministers.

"After a lot of fuss, a public enquiry into the murder was launched a year ago," explains Omtzigt. "Ministers were also called upon to testify, including Muscat. This poses many problems for the current Prime Minister, who is now attempting to halt the investigation prematurely'.

According to Prime Minister Abela, the investigation will be halted in December if it is not completed by then, due to 'unnecessary delay'. However, according to Omtzigt, there is no unnecessary delay and the Prime Minister does not have the power to determine the duration of the investigation.


"It is not for the Prime Minister of a government under investigation to determine the scope of that investigation or to question its accuracy," Omtzigt writes in the letter. According to the Special Rapporteur, there is political interference in a judicial process if Abela stops the investigation. "And that is highly undesirable."

Omtzigt hopes that the published letter will increase international pressure to complete the investigation. "Otherwise I will write in my final report that Abela has obstructed the investigation and that may have political consequences for him in Europe. Abela's predecessor, Muscat, resigned after protests in Malta and heavy criticism from Omtzigt.

BBM

https://twitter.com/PieterOmtzigt/status/1306962247252693000

Letter to Prime Minister of Malta
@RobertAbela_MT on his decision to set a time limit to the public inquiry int the assassination of Daphne Caruana Galizia. (The government is object of the inquiry)

 

[ZaZara]

‘Move to freeze Schembri’s assets underlines importance of public inquiry’

The Council of Europe Special Rapporteur Pieter Omtzigt has welcomed the court’s order to freeze all assets belonging to former chief of staff Keith Schembri and his family members as well as others associated with him.

Reacting, Omtzigt said he hopes this is a sign of a new determination from the authorities to resolve serious allegations of corruption.

“I welcome this decisive action by the new Attorney General. Hope that it is a sign of a new determination to resolve all long-standing allegations of corruption and bring an end to impunity. (I) Look forward to rapid further progress here and the other cases,” the Council of Europe’s Special Rapporteur said.


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[Legally Bland]

Her death brought thousands of people on to the streets of Malta and led to the resignation of a prime minister. Now the life of the investigative journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia has inspired a book for children.

Written and illustrated by her friend Gattaldo, the designer, Fearless: The Story of Daphne Caruana Galizia is being released by a UK publisher this month to mark three years since the Maltese writer was killed by a car bomb in October 2017.

Aimed at children aged six and over, Fearless contains none of the violence that marked Caruana Galizia’s end. It starts with her childhood and skips directly from her battles against corruption – illustrated by a many-headed hydra – to those who took up her cause after she was gone.

“She has left a strong legacy and here in Malta I see it,” says Gattaldo. “There is a realisation that democracy doesn’t stop with the vote. You need to fight for what you believe in.”

 

[ZaZara]

Murder in Malta

Murder in Malta - After a journalist was assassinated, her sons found clues in her unfinished work that cracked the case and brought down the government.

I hope someone can read this, because I can't without a subscription. Apparently I have run out of freebies. Folks, it's almost Christmas....!

 

[MajorHoople]

Murder in Malta

Murder in Malta - After a journalist was assassinated, her sons found clues in her unfinished work that cracked the case and brought down the government.

I hope someone can read this, because I can't without a subscription. Apparently I have run out of freebies. Folks, it's almost Christmas....!

Murder in Malta

"Daphne’s sons worried about her. She was fifty-three and lived in an old stone farmhouse on the edge of Bidnija, a hilltop hamlet on the island of Malta. From the dining-room table, where Daphne wrote, she could see the morning sunlight glisten on the Mediterranean. But she hadn’t been to the beach in four years. When she left the house, people spat at her, followed her, photographed her, and hurled insults and abuse. Once, when she was taking an afternoon walk in a nearby village, a former mayor gathered a mob and began chasing her. She took refuge in a monastery, where the villagers pounded on the heavy wooden doors. All over the island, there were people who were certain that they hated her but had never read a word she had written. They simply knew her as is-sahhara tal-Bidnija—the witch of Bidnija.

Beyond “this little rock,” as Daphne referred to Malta, she was known for her reporting, which exposed malfeasance and hypocrisy within the governing class. She had come to think of the country as fractured by time, with all the worst elements of globalization grafted onto a population that was otherwise stuck in the past. “Malta is 17 miles by nine and flooded with cocaine, corruption, and filthy money,” she wrote."

 

[MajorHoople]

@ZaZara, if you haven't read the entire article (it's long) and want to this link might work for you.

Murder in Malta

 

[ZaZara]

UPDATED: Watershed moment as hitman pleads guilty in Daphne Caruana Galizia case


Watershed moment as hitman pleads guilty in Daphne Caruana Galizia case

Vince Muscat, one of three accused of planting the bomb that killed journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia on 16 October 2017, pled guilty to all charges in court today, an unexpected twist in the case.

Muscat, known as il-Koħħu, said he was guilty on all counts before Judge Edwina Grima. After the court gave him time to reconsider his decision, Muscat reiterated his plea. Asked whether he would like to hear the accusations, Muscat said that it was not necessary.

The means that the case against the other two alleged hitmen – brothers George and Alfred Degiorgio – will now be separate from Muscat’s.


BBM