In connection with the murder of revelatory journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia, the head of the government of Malta has resigned. This is what Prime Minister Joseph Muscat said today in Valletta.
His former office manager Keith Schembri is said to be interrogated according to investigators by the police, because his name was mentioned in connection with a prime suspect in the murder case. The investigators are currently trying under pressure to find the mastermind of the assassination attempt on the journalist.
Reported about corruption in government
The 53-year-old Caruana Galizia was killed on 16 October 2017 in a bomb attack on her car. Her murder triggered shock throughout Europe. The journalist had regularly reported on corruption, money laundering, nepotism and other illegal business in Malta. Some of the scandals also involved members of the Government of Malta.
Only a few days ago, the businessman Yorgen Fenech had been arrested on his yacht off the coast of Malta. He is co-owner of, among others, the energy company Electrogas and owner of the Dubai-based company 17 Black, which Galizia had reported before her death. According to the journalist, the company was related to Maltese politicians.
Researching Panama Papers
Caruana Galizia’s research focused largely on the Panama Papers scandal and related high-level corruption in Malta. It appeared from e-mails published in court that the then Energy Minister Konrad Mizzi and Muscats former office manager Schembri had companies in Panama, which should have received payments from the company 17 Black. 17 Black is said to have made payments of thousands of euros a day for unspecified services on Panama accounts of Fenech and Mizzi.
