Journalists worldwide are mourning the loss of influential investigative journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia after she was murdered when a bomb blast tore apart her car in Malta on Monday.
Caruana Galizia started her journalism career in 1987 as a columnist for ‘The Sunday Times of Malta’, but her most recent and provocative work was writing one of Malta’s most popular blogs ‘Running Commentary’.
After publication of the Panama Papers, Caruana Galizia followed up with her own reporting, uncovering more information on local political figures involved in the leak.
It was this reporting that lead Politico to name her as one of ‘28 people who are shaping, shaking and stirring Europe‘.
The controversial journalist fought for press freedom in Malta even after her bank accounts were frozen earlier this year after she reported that the deputy leader of the Labour Party, Christian Cardona, and his EU presidency policy officer, Joseph Gerad had visited a brothel.
She continued to fight the injustices in her country with her final blog post, ‘That crook Schembri was in court today, pleading that he is not a crook’, published not long before the attack.
Local media reported that Caruana Galizia had filed a police report 15 days ago saying she was being threatened.
ICIJ director Gerard Ryle said he was shocked by the news and condemned the attack.
“Caruana Galizia has been at the forefront of important investigations in the public interest and has exposed offshore dealings of prominent political figures in Malta,” he said.
“ICIJ condemns violence against journalists and is deeply concerned about freedom of the press in Malta
“ICIJ calls upon the Maltese authorities to investigate the murder and bring the perpetrators to justice.”
Caruana Galizia was also the mother of long-time ICIJ developer and data journalist Matthew Caruana Galizia.
Statements from across the globe were flooding social media as journalists learned of the news.
Times of Malta online editor Herman Grech said Caruana Galizia was “loved and resented in equal measure in politically-divided Malta – but she will go down in the Mediterranean island’s history as one of the most influential writers.
“Her uncompromising blog and scathing pen spared no punches, hitting out mainly at exponents of the ruling Labour Party and their supporters, but also sometimes criticising officials of the centre-right Nationalist Party, including its newly-elected leader,” he wrote.
Many of ICIJ’s members from across the globe took to Twitter to also condemn the attack.
This is absolute horror. The brave maltese blogger Daphne Caruana Galizia was killed by a car bomb. She fought relentless for justice. #RIP https://t.co/JCsh6zDu98
— Bastian Obermayer (@b_obermayer) October 16, 2017
My sincere condolences to her family and colleagues. This murder cannot and should not be unpunished. I am in profound shock. #NOimpunity https://t.co/MjEvahW1Q0
— Anuška Delić (@007_delic) October 16, 2017
There is also a vigil for the journalist in Malta.
Murdered #panamapapers journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia’s vigil #malta pic.twitter.com/UYjfMNYbSb
— Jacob Borg (@BorgJake) October 16, 2017