The Daphne Foundation welcomed the arrest of Keith Schembri, the former prime minister’s chief of staff, on suspicions of serious financial crime.

The foundation said that the action against Schembri and what they called "his money laundering network" is long overdue.

Daphne Caruana Galizia first revealed that Schembri had allegedly received kickbacks on the sale of Maltese passports, and laundered the proceeds through his network, on 24 April 2017.

"For three and a half years, the Malta Police Force and the Attorney General failed in their legal obligations to act against Schembri. A magistrate’s inquest conducted in secret, whose findings remain secret, is no substitute for justice", the Foundation said.

Had Malta’s institutions worked effectively from the start, Daphne would be alive today and the country would have been spared years of pain, grief, and shame, the foundation said.