Honorary president of Repubblika Robert Aquilina has that prior to her assassination, Daphne Caruana Galizia faced similar challenges to Giovanni Falcone, Paolo Borsellino, their colleagues within the judiciary, journalists, activists, politicians, and Italian citizens "who chose good over evil."

Hee was inaugurating the Maltese Office of Fondazione Falcone.

Present for this inauguration were Her Excellency Myriam Spiteri Debono and the President of Fondazione Falcone Maria Falcone, and other distinct guests.

During his speech, Aquilina described the shock he felt when heard about the news emerging from Sicily regarding the "barbaric" deaths of Giovanni Falcone and Paolo Borsellino, at the hands of the Sicilian Mafia.

He said that despite being geographically close, these news items, 32 years ago, felt as if they were coming from a place very far away, implying that these things were fortunately not present in the Maltese islands.

"This all changed on the dark day of 16 October 2017," Aquilina said.

He said that on the day of Daphne Caruana Galizia's assassination, many people felt compelled to act against this "tragic situation," in spite of their shock.

He remarked that through this continued action, activists have since began a process "to discover the truth, seek justice, and for Malta to be cured of the sickness that led to a journalist being killed in our country." He also added that often times, this road has been a great struggle.

Aquilina called for people to rediscover their sense of shock in moments of bad governance in order to introduce a culture of accountability across the Maltese islands. "Only then can we begin to regenerate a sense of shame from an abusive act."

Referencing the inaugurated site, Aquilina described that through this, Malta must follow the footsteps that Fondazione Falcone has already taken in Italy.

"We want to bring about a positive change in our culture," he said, "We must foster a culture of legality, a culture in favour of what is good, in favour of what is right. We must foster a culture that sets aside evil."

He stated that while this change will not happen overnight, this vision comes to life through the "real and concrete support of the Maltese State." Aquilina added that he wishes for this battle to be backed by all organs of the Maltese State.

"Our goal is to create a culture in which what happened to Daphne, or anything like it, can never and will never happen again," Aquilina said. "We can only accomplish this if we recognise our country's problems, discuss them, and confront them...and not by sweeping them under the rug and pretending that they don't exist."

This Office will be dedicated to the lives Giovanni Falcone, Paolo Borsellino, Daphne Caruana Galizia, and all victims of organised crime, he said. Aquilina explained that it is vital for people to keep the memory of these people alive to "renew and strengthen our determination so such tragedies never occur again."

Concluding his intervention, Aquilina called for people to be active citizens - even if they do not hold a position of power or responsibility within their communities - before then personally thanking Maria Falcone and Vincenzo di Fresco for Fondazione Falcone's support to Malta in recent years.