Five months after reports surfaced that the masterminds behind the assassination of journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia had been identified, Prime Minister Joseph Muscat urged calmness and stressed that action can only be taken once more concrete evidence was available.

“It does not help anyone if the police were to charge someone and two years down the line the case gets dismissed because of a lack of evidence,” he said while speaking to Lovin Malta.

“That does not mean that there is no evidence”

Last November, The Times of Malta quoted high-ranking officers who are leading the investigation as saying that a group of “more than two” Maltese nationals had been identified as the masterminds behind the murder, with the police previously telling a delegation that investigations were at a very advanced stage.

Sources had also indicated that individuals who had different motives for murdering the journalist had contacted the three men charged with having detonated the bomb on 16 October 2017.

Muscat’s stance echoes Home Affairs Minister Michael Farrugia’s statements last year, who was quoted by Rai 3 as saying that arrests can only be made once sufficient evidence was available.

Asked whether any progress had been made, Muscat insisted that he would not comment on specific details to the case, adding that it would do nothing but fuel speculation.

“We need to let investigators do their work,” he said.

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Julian Bonnici

Julian is the former editor of Lovin Malta and has a particular interest in politics, the environment, social issues, and human interest stories.