Daphne Caruana Galizia
Journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia (til venstre) og brandmænd, der undersøger bilvraget i Bionja (til højre).
Updateret 21.50

Journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia blev dræbt killed i eftermiddags i en kraftig bilbombeeksplosion som efterlod hendes bil i flere dele i Bidnija.

Den kraftige eksplosion rystede Triq il-Bidnija omkring klokken 15:00 og efterlod debris fra bilen, en Peugeot 108, sprdt ud over vejen og en nærliggende mark, kun et kort stykke fra Ms Caruana Galizia's hjem.

Politiet sagde at kroppen, som de nægtede at bekræfte tilhørte Ms Caruana Galizia, blev sprængt ud af bilen ved eksplosionens kraft.

En af Ms Caruana Galizia's tre sønner var ifølge forlydender blandt de første til at ankomme til ulykkesstedet, idet han var styrtet ud af familiens hus, da han hørte eksplosionen.

Familiemedlemmer, herunder Ms Caruana Galizias mand, sønner og søskende ankom kort efter.

Ifølge TVM havde Ms Caruana Galizia - en aktiv journalist, som ikke veg tilbage fra at skrive kritisk om sine emner - indgivet en politirapport for 15 dage siden, fordi hun blevet truet.


Kommentar: Delvist oversat af Sott.net fra Malta investigative journalist assassinated in possible Gladio B op For en foklaring på, hvorfor det kunne være en Gladio B operation se videoen i kommentren neden under:

Galizia played a major role in the Panama Papers case; her focus was on corruption. More from the Independent:
Galizia is believed to have just published the last post on her widely read blog, Running Commentary, just before leaving her house Mosta, a town outside the capital Valletta.

"There are crooks everywhere you look now," she had written, "the situation is desperate."

Soon after driving away in her Peugeot 108, Galizia's vehicle exploded with such force it was sent flying over a wall and into a field.

Galizia reported death threats against her to the police just over two weeks ago, according to local media.

Her in-depth reporting made her many enemies, including the Prime Minister, opposition politicians and members of the judiciary.

She was described as a "one-woman Wikileaks" by Politico and her blog sometimes achieved a larger readership than all the other newspapers in Malta combined.
Newsbud has a breaking report on the murder:
An investigative journalist was just assassinated in Malta with a car bomb. Media outlets are reporting this murder may be politically driven, and is only limited to Malta, but there is much more to this story as this journalist was getting too close to something much bigger, Operation Gladio B.


Show notes
Se også: Gladio B er en fortsættelse af det oprindelige Gladion Program:

Forensics teams, Civil Protection Department firefighters, explosive ordnance disposal experts and several police investigators were sent to sweep the scene.

Duty magistrate Consuelo Scerri Herrera was also spotted at the site. Her role as head of the magisterial inquiry into the murder is being challenged by the Caruana Galizia family, who have highlighted the bad blood between the magistrate and the deceased Ms Caruana Galizia.

News of Ms Caruana Galizia's murder spread across the globe.


Prime Minister Joseph Muscat and Opposition Leader Adrian Delia both held press conferences following the explosion (see below) with the two men later meeting at parliament in Valletta.

In a statement, the government said both sides had agreed to keep the meeting agenda confidential. Dr Muscat was accompanied by Deputy Prime Minister Chris Fearne, Home Affairs Minister Michael Farrugia and Justice Minister Owen Bonnici.

Dr Delia's delegation was made up of his predecessor Simon Busuttil and outgoing PN deputy leaders Mario de Marco and Beppe Fenech Adami.

The Opposition Leader's response to last week's Budget 2018, scheduled for this evening, was postponed following the killing.

Vigil

A candelight vigil to express solidarity with Ms Caruana Galizia's family drew thousands to Sliema in the evening, with many Maltese in London also attending a similar event outside Malta's High Commission in Mayfair.
Daphne Caruana Galizia
© Mark Zammit Cordina
Malta has been rocked by a series of unsolved car bombing in recent years. Most are believed to be the work of rival criminal gangs, with no known political motive.

'I will not rest before justice is done' - Joseph Muscat

Prime Minister Joseph Muscat held a press conference around 90 minutes after the explosion, in which he condemned the "barbaric attack".

"Everyone knows Ms Caruana Galizia was a harsh critic of mine, both politically and personally, but nobody can justify this barbaric act in any way," he said.

Dr Muscat said he had asked police to reach out to other countries' security services to try to root out the perpetrators. Speaking in parliament later in the evening, he said the government had asked the US government to provide FBI agents to help local investigators with their work.

"I will not rest before justice is done," the Prime Minister said.

'Rule of law has collapsed' - Adrian Delia

In a press conference held at around 6pm, Nationalist Party leader Adrian Delia condemned what he called "the worst political killing since that of Raymond Caruana."

Dr Delia said nothing would remain the same in Malta after the despicable murder.

"This is the darkest day in Maltese politics," he said, calling the murder "the direct consequence of the total collapse of rule of law in our country."

He insisted that any inquiry into Ms Caruana Galizia's murder had to be truly independent, and not led by people such as the police commissioner, commander of the Armed Forces or magistrate Scerri Herrera - who had all been the target of Ms Caruana Galizia's criticism in recent years.

President appeals for solidarity

President Marie-Louise Coleiro Preca expressed solidarity with Ms Caruana Galizia's sons and husband and appealed for calm.

"In these moments, when the country is shocked by such a vicious attack, I call on everyone to measure their words, to not pass judgement and to show solidarity," she said.

Malta 'has lost a brave voice' - Archbishop

Archbishop Charles Scicluna said the country had lost a "brave voice" who was "one of the best investigative journalists in Malta."

Calling for bravery and strength in the face of this attack, the Archbishop insisted that being intimidated by this attack would ultimately give in to the murderers' wishes.

Archbishop Sultana phoned in on RTK to offer his condolences, saying that his aim was not to canonise blogger Daphne Caruana Galizia.

She sought to speak the truth, not to be sanctified, the Archbishop said.

He insisted that politicians need to continue to be held accountable and that this attack is ultimately an attack on the common good.

Journalist lobby expresses shock

In a statement, the Institute of Maltese Journalists said this was a dark day for democracy in Malta and urged police to bring perpetrators to justice.

It urged journalists to not be cowed by the attack and to continue to report on all that was in the public interest "without fear or favour".

NGOs call for independent inquiry

A group of NGOs including the Malta Gay Rights Movement, aditus foundation, Integra Foundation, The Critical Institute and Platform for Human Rights Organisations in Malta expressed their concern "at the threat to freedom of speech that [Ms Caruana Galizia's] violent murder poses."

The NGOs called for an independent inquiry to look into whether police "took the requisite measures" to protect her and whether her violent demise could have been avoided. Ms Caruana Galizia had filed a report about being threatened two weeks ago, public broadcaster TVM reported.
Daphne Caruana Galizia
© Ivan Martin