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Daphne Caruana Galizia has pledged to expose widespread corruption in Malta, writes her son, journalist Paul Caruana Galizia, in “A Death in Malta. “
By Clyde Haberman
Clyde Haberman contributes to The Times.
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A DEATH IN MALTA: A Murder and a Family’s Quest for Justice, via Paul Caruana Galizia
Daphne Caruana Galizia pointed out and pointed out in Malta an outspoken journalist who wrote that “the greatest enemy of free speech” is fear, as it leads to “a harmful scenario in which Americans are gagged. “Being gagged is the last thing Caruana Galizia can tolerate. In the end, her bravery killed her.
Writing in English for newspapers and, more specifically, for his own blog called “Running Commentary”, he has exposed corruption at the upper levels of Maltese society and government. Hundreds of thousands of people clung to his words, an ordinary reader for a country of just over a million people. She was followed for her reporting but also, and perhaps even more so, for her uncompromising attitude towards political elites. He called a former prime minister an “absolute sociopath” who ran an “ineptocracy. “and he was surrounded by “intellectually deficient” facilitators. Their fellow bloodhounds may simply be “vile, stupid, and even stupid. “The average Maltese hasn’t been spared either; “Ignorant,” “amoral,” and “stingy” were just a few of the descriptors.
It’s no wonder that Caruana Galizia has amassed enemies in gigantic numbers. She and her circle of relatives were so threatened that she has avoided public places as much as possible. His dog was killed. The enemies tried to burn down their space in the village of Bidnija. They mailed him excrement. A bank denied him access to his existing account. Dozens of lawsuits have been filed against her, either for civil or criminal defamation.
Finally, one afternoon in October 2017, she was murdered at the age of 53 as she walked out of her driveway. A bomb planted that night, detonated remotely, destroyed her and her grey Peugeot. A passing farmer, quoted through his youngest son, Paul Caruana Galizia, was quoted as saying he saw his last moments. “I even heard her scream,” he said. A loud scream. “
His life and legacy are perfectly described in this son’s book, ‘A Death in Malta’, which explores not only his career but also his influence on his family and the steps taken by him and his older brothers, Matthew and Andrew, to inspire investigations into his shocking murder. Journalists are not killed in Western Europe. Of the 67 deaths recorded internationally in 2017 through the New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists, only two worried Western Europeans: Caruana Galizia and Kim Wall, a Swede killed in Copenhagen. One of the effects of The Caruana Galizia brothers’ efforts was the publication in 2021 of a damning report through a panel of judges that concluded that the Maltese state had failed to “recognise the genuine and swift risks” faced by Daphne. Worse, they said that “the country was” moving toward a scenario that could be termed simply as a mafia state. It was the journalist’s murder that prevented this predicted disaster. “
There have been arrests. Two brothers, George and Alfred Degiorgio, are serving sentences as hitmen; The same goes for Vincent Muscat, because of his supporting role. Other people have also been charged, including a Maltese businessman, Yorgen Fenech, who was captured while trying to flee on his yacht and is now awaiting trial as an instigator of the crime. the plot.
As for the political fallout, Maltese Prime Minister Joseph Muscat (no relation to Vincent) announced his resignation as 2019 drew to a close. He was not involved in the murder. But perhaps he feels quite punished, as he was beaten mercilessly in writing by Daphne, whom he refers to as a “poodle. “
This e-book may be an eye-opener for those who know little about the country of Malta. The image presented in these pages is not pretty, as it is fraught with widespread corruption and a latent threat, all the more unexpected because it is a member. of the European Union.
British journalist Paul Caruana Galizia prefers short sentences and choppy style. Sometimes, in his telling, the corruption pursued through his mother, such as the case of an electric power company that obtained a questionable loan from the Maltese government worth $400 million, can be complicated. to continue in the whirlwind of transactions. But his discourse on the problems is transparent and unequivocal: “In a small country, you are never far from your enemies. “
It’s a lesson he and his siblings learned early on. After her mother wrote in 1993 about the Maltese drug traffickers, she made the decision that it was sensible to prevent them from taking the regular bus and drop them off at school herself, after checking the landing equipment. of his car, which he didn’t do on his last day. When he died, the brothers received their own education in finding car bombs and providing first aid.
“The ugliness of Malta has been difficult to explain outside the country,” Paul writes. “It was expected and it was self-sufficient. The dehumanization of a journalist allowed her to be murdered, and her murder allowed the paintings of her and the user who carried it out to be erased. The norm changes, the ground falls, the ugliness becomes go deeper.
In fact, this isn’t an account of all the flaws. If Daphne had any flaws as a journalist (some might surprise by her taste for polemical writing), her son is not her columnist. Then again, why deserve it? The inescapable fact is that the murder struck a chord that resonated in Malta, with thousands of people taking part in protests and vigils. They installed symptoms that would be systematically dismantled by the authorities, and then replaced. Some of them started having symptoms and dressed in T-shirts with the fateful last words Daphne wrote on her blog an hour before getting into her car:
“There are scammers everywhere. He’s desperate.
A DEATH IN MALTA: A homicide and a family’s quest for justice | By Pablo Caruana Galizia | Riverhead | 304 pages | US$29
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