In a vigil held four years since the tragic death of journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia, President of NGO Repubblika Robert Aquilina said that although certain progress has been made, the police commissioner and attorney general should “take those involved in corruption which led to the death of Daphne to court.”

Caruana Galizia was killed on Monday 16 October 2017 after a bomb planted in the car she was driving blew up, killing her instantly. The incident in Bidnija Road, close to her place of residence, was reported to the police just after 3pm. A silent commemoration was held on the site of her assassination earlier.

A public inquiry into the assassination ruled that The State did not do enough in order to avoid Caruana Galizia’s murder. Businessman Yorgen Fenech is being accused of being the alleged mastermind behind Caruana Galizia’s death. Three men were accused of the murder, with one of them, Vince Muscat, admitting to the crime and was sentenced to 15 years in jail. The other two, George and Alfred Degiorgio, are awaiting trial.

“Justice for Daphne means that – amongst other things – prosecutions regarding the stories that Daphne revealed and prosecutions for corruption that took place with the blessing of Joseph Muscat,” Aquilina said.

He stated that everyone who was somehow involved in this murder should end up in jail “sooner rather than later”.

Repubblika’s president said that it is unacceptable that “two and a half months after the publication of the Public Inquiry, Prime Minister Robert Abela has not done anything concrete about it.”

He also stated that it is unacceptable that there are a group of people who have a responsibility to carry regarding the assassination yet still continue to occupy public roles.

“It is an insult to all Maltese and Gozitan people... Labour, Nationalists, people of other parties and people without a party, that someone like Joseph Muscat – known around the world as the most corrupt politician of 2019 – is still being sheltered and supported by the government,” Aquilina stated.

Aquilina said that the world will judge the government as it “continues to protect these people and hinder justice from taking place”.

“Four years ago, just before they killed her, Daphne wrote that the situation was one of despair. As she was right on many of the stories she revealed, as she was right about many of the people she wrote about, Daphne was right about this too,” Aquilina said.

Had Caruana Galizia lived longer, she would have continued to reveal the corrupt acts that certain people were performing, the Repubblika president said. “We have no doubt that she would continue to expose the evil and fight it with all the energy she had.”

“No matter how desperate the situation is, we are committed to doing what Daphne did [...] We are committed and are going on our fight, until the end,” Aquilina noted.

The mission ends when the only place where you “see crooks everywhere you look”, as Daphne had famously written before her death, will be the prison, Aquilina concluded.

Pia Zammit, another speaker at the vigil, took aim at the budget slogan that the Government presented, “What type of Malta do we want for our children?”

Zammit said that the country needs to continue to make its voice heard as “the only way that the bad wins is when the good ties his hands, closes his eyes, and leaves everything pass by.”

“Daphne warned us that we were hurting the people who promise us great things. We were turning our backs when permits and contracts started to come out like pastries without a due diligence process. She warned us that we were losing our souls and our hearts. Daphne warned us. Yet we did not listen enough,” Zammit said.

“It had to be a bomb to bring us to our senses […] if we don’t act now, Daphne will have died for nothing,” she remarked.

Ricardo Gutiérrez, General Secretary of the European Federation of Journalists (EFJ), said that it is important to remember what Daphne Caruana Galizia represents today. “A few days ago, in Tirana, a journalist asked me to tell her in a few words who Daphne was for me. I told her that I was not going to tell her what she was, in the past, but what she is, in the present.”

“Daphne is a symbol. Daphne is a role model for all of us. We will never forget her. She is changing this country in ways that no one would have dared to consider,” he said.

Flutura Kusari, legal advisor from the European Centre for Press and Media Freedom said that although progress has been made, the Prime Minister “must use their power to stop discrediting campaigns against those seeking justice for Daphne.”

“If anything happens to them or if the cases before the court fail, the Maltese state will be responsible,” she said.

Meanwhile, Rebecca Vincent from Reporters Without Borders said that “what has been achieved in Daphne’s case is incredible”.

“The possibility of criminal justice for her assassination is real -- something that’s extremely difficult to achieve in any case of the murder of a journalist, anywhere, as we still see impunity for nine out of 10 cases of killings of journalists globally,” Vincent remarked.

“My message this year is the same as ever, that the world is still closely watching what unfolds here in Malta, and the international community is on your side. You have our support. This fight for justice matters, in a truly historical way, and you should all be proud of the part you have played and continue to play,” she said.