Archbishop Charles Scicluna has condemned the killing of Maltese investigative journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia, calling it an “obscene murder”.
Caruana Galizia had led the Panama Papers investigation into corruption in Malta – an investigation which followed the leaking of 11.5 million documents from the firm Mossack Fonseca. The journalist was killed by a car bomb near the Maltese capital of Valletta on Monday October 16. The car was destroyed by the explosion, which sent debris into a nearby field.
Her blog, which attracted more readers than the country’s newspapers combined, often criticised members of the political establishment.
Recently, she claimed there was a link between Maltese prime minister Joseph Muscat and offshore companies connected to the sale of Maltese passports. He has denied all allegations.
“The loss of Daphne Caruana Galizia fills us with sadness and determination to continue defending democracy until the very end,” Archbishop Scicluna, the country’s highest ranking prelate, said.
He urged the Maltese people not to descend into hostilities, saying it was not the time to “wage war between us or to blame one another.
As a people we must wake up, defend the dignity of each one of us, and stop the verbal attacks on each other. We must defend the central value of democracy by moving from words to actions. I pray for the soul of this victim and her family, and I extend my solidarity to all journalists. I encourage them to defend the truth, to be afraid of no one and to be servants of the people and of democracy,” the archbishop said.
No one has yet claimed responsibility for the journalist’s murder. The government has offered a €1m (£890,000) reward for information that could help to bring her killers to justice.
Maltese media have reported that Caruna Galizia said two weeks before her death that she had received threats.
Prime minister Joseph Muscat said FBI officers were travelling to the island to help with the investigation.
“Everyone knows Ms Caruana Galizia was a harsh critic of mine,” he said, “both politically and personally, but nobody can justify this barbaric act in any way.”
In a letter to Archbishop Scicluna, Pope Francis said that he was “saddened by the tragic death” of Caruna Galizia, and offered his prayers for Malta “at this difficult time”.
On Sunday, thousands attended a rally in Valletta calling for justice. The killing has also attracted international attention. The Court of Justice of the European Union held a minute’s silence. Caruana Galizia’s sister Corinne told the Guardian: “Malta has become the useful tool of international criminal networks, and there was just one nuisance, my sister, telling everyone it was happening.”
Bishops: elections were biased
The Venezuelan bishops have said that last week’s elections, in which President Nicolás Maduro won an unexpected victory, lacked “justice and ethics”.
The US State Department has also suggested that the election was orchestrated to help the government. The bishops said that Venezuelans should nevertheless seek a democratic solution to the country’s crisis.
Their statement said: “We commend ourselves to the powerful intercession of Our Lady of Coromoto.”
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