The head of the Italian anti-Mafia commission Rosy Bindi said that terrible incidents such as the murder of Daphne Caruana Galizia last week should be an occasion for all people to come together and react against crime.

Speaking at the end of a Mass celebrated by Archbishop Charles Scicluna, exactly one week after the investigative journalist was killed, Bindi said that Malta has for a long time been on the radar of the commission because it has become a place where Italian Mafia operates.

She mentioned drugs, gaming, immigration and also oil smuggling as areas in which there is a Malta connection to the Italian mafia, with “many exponents” involved in business on the island.

She said that the visit of the commission has long been planned but following Daphne’s assassination it was thought fit that the commission should attend the Archbishop’s Mass to show solidarity with the family and with the country.

She said she had met Mgr Scicluna who told her that Malta should not be left alone, facing the humiliation of such a despicable killing that took the life of a journalist who was only doing her job.

Bindi said that on Tuesday the commission will be meeting Malta’s institutions to find common ground on how this type of crime could be tackled.

Asked about Daphne’s murder, Bindi said that Italy has a long history of such attacks against magistrates, politicians and journalists who were just doing their job. Such occasions leave deep wounds but are also an occasion for the people to unite and say “no” to violence and regain their freedom.