There's Been a Break in Case of Murdered Journalist

Malta arrests 10 after car bombing of Daphne Caruana Galizia
By Newser Editors and Wire Services
Posted Dec 4, 2017 7:24 AM CST
There's Been a Break in Case of Murdered Journalist
FILE -- This April 4, 2016 file photo shows Maltese investigative journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia, who was killed by a car bomb in Malta on Oct. 16. On Monday, Dec. 4, 2017 Malta's prime minister Joseph Muscat announced the arrest of eight suspects, all Maltese citizens, in the murder of the journalist.   (AP Photo/Jon Borg, files)

Ten suspects were arrested Monday in the October car bomb murder of investigative journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia in Malta. All 10 are believed to be Maltese citizens, but few details were released. The investigation appeared to be continuing, as police and armed forces had cordoned off an area in Marsa, a small town close to the capital Valletta, per the AP. The arrests were the first known break in a murder that has drawn widespread outrage and condemnation. Caruana Galizia, whose reporting focused heavily on corruption in the island nation, was killed when a bomb destroyed her car as she was driving near her home. Just before her death, Caruana Galizia, 53, had posted on her closely followed blog, Running Commentary, that there were "crooks everywhere" in Malta.

Malta has a reputation as a tax haven in the European Union and has attracted companies and money from outside Europe as well. Low tax rates and a popular government program that allows wealthy foreigners to buy Maltese citizenship has made the country an attractive place for investment and financial companies. Authorities, including anti-Mafia investigators in nearby Italy, worry that Malta is in the crosshairs of criminals on the lookout for money-laundering schemes. The journalist focused her reporting for years on investigating political corruption and scandals, and reported on Maltese mobsters and drug trafficking. She also wrote about Maltese links to the so-called Panama Papers leaks about offshore financial havens.

(More journalists killed stories.)

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