Journalist Murder Resulted In Resignation Of Maltese PM

PM Malta Joseph Muscat (Instagram / @ josephmuscat_jm)

JAKARTA - The Prime Minister (PM) of Malta Joseph Muscat announced that he would resign from his post in mid-January 2020. Muscat's resignation comes amid an investigation into the murder of a journalist named Daphne Caruana Galizia who died in 2017.

"Every day for the past 2 years I have assumed responsibility and made my own decisions. I made the best decisions for the case and I believe that some decisions are good, and others could be better," said Muscat, quoted by CNN, Tuesday December 3rd.

His resignation came after a conglomerate named Yorgen Fenech admitted to being the broker in the murder. He paid the three perpetrators to carry out an act of murder.

Fenech also admitted that his friend who is also Muscat's closest person, Keith Schembri, received an assignment to kill Galizia. Schembri was detained by the police for questioning but was finally released because he could not find any evidence related to Galizia's murder.

In the near future, Malta's Economy Minister, Chris Cardona, is back on duty after being suspended for his examination of the Galizia murder case. However, he denied involvement in the murder and the police released him because there was no evidence.

"Malta is part of Europe, this concerns all of us," said Sophie de Veld, a member of the Dutch liberal parliament who will take part in a fact-finding mission to Malta.

"Muscat needs to explain how he wants to enforce the rule of law after years of defending wrongdoing ministers," said Sven Giegold, a member of the European parliament from Germany.

Galizia is a journalist known for his active involvement in investigating corruption cases in the Maltese government. He died when a bomb installed in his car exploded on his way home. His family suspects that someone wants to kill him because Galizia is active in a corruption case.

In addition, the Galizia family also believes that Muscat is protecting those around him who are suspected of being involved in the Galizia murder. The results of Galizia's coverage, including his research on the Maltese who were involved in the Panama Papers, made Galizia hostile to several circles.

Before being killed, Galizia received various terrors such as his beloved dog being slashed and burning his house while he was asleep. This is believed to be an attempted murder because the back door of his house was closed with a pile of used tires by the perpetrator.

In December 2017, 10 people were arrested in connection with the car bomb case that killed Caruana Galizia. The detentions at that time came after the Maltese government came under pressure from the European Union. At that time the European Union demanded that Malta show good faith in investigating the murder of Galizia.

The seven detained were eventually released, but brothers Alfred and George Degiorgio along with Vincent Muscat - unrelated to Joseph Muscat - were charged with the murder of Galizia.

The three of them had pleaded not guilty in the pre-trial process. However, Vincent Muscat finally admitted that he placed the bomb in Galizia's car when it was parked near his house. The killers were paid a total of 150,000 euros.