10 arrested over Malta journalist's murder

World
Europe

Maltese police have arrested 10 suspects as part of an investigation into the murder of journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia, whose car was blown up in October, Prime Minister Joseph Muscat announced on Monday.

All of the suspects are Maltese nationals and most have a criminal record, Muscat said, without providing any further details. He cited concerns that anything he said could derail any prosecution.

The police have 48 hours to question the suspects, arraign them or release them.

Muscat initially announced eight arrests at a press conference, then later said on Twitter that two more had been apprehended.

The arrests, made in an operation coordinated among the Police Corps, the Armed Forces of Malta and the Security Services, were the first break in the murder that has drawn widespread outrage and condemnation.

Caruana Galizia, 53, was murdered on October 16 as she was driving away from her house in northern Malta.

Her reporting focused heavily on corruption on the EU island nation and she wrote a popular blog in which she relentlessly highlighted cases of alleged graft targeting politicians from across party lines.

Galizia was following leads from the Panama Papers, which were leaked in 2015 and show how the world's rich use offshore firms to hide their wealth. She had also accused senior figures in the government and opposition of corruption and money laundering.

All have denied the accusations and Galizia was hit with 36 libel suits in the nine months preceding her death.

Her murder shocked Malta and raised concern within the European Union about the rule of law on the Mediterranean island.

Europol, the European Union's police agency, sent a team of organized crime experts to help Maltese police investigate the assassination, joining the FBI and Dutch forensic experts.

Concluding a fact-finding mission on Friday, a group of EU lawmakers said there was a "perception of impunity" in Malta.

8424km

Source(s): AP ,Reuters