No stone will be left unturned in solving Caruana Galizia murder, Home Affairs minister insists

Home affairs minister Michael Farrugia said that he had instructed the police leave no stone unturned in their efforts to find who was responsible for Daphne Caruana Galizia’s assassination.

The budget made available for this would be as large as necessary, he said in a response to Simon Busuttil speech in parliament today, and he had given the go ahead for any arrangements to be made for foreign experts to come to Malta to aide in the investigation and fill-up any holes in the Maltese police's expertise and technical know-how.

He described the murder as an attack by someone who thought they could silence someone by murdering them, maintaining that Caruana Galizia might have written, or been close to discovering or disclosing something which those killing her did not want made public.

Acknowledging his responsibility to ensure that the relevant structures in his remit were functioning well, he said that he would not be afraid to push forward a change in culture if necessary.

He mentioned that crime had decreased by four percent in the last nine months, and that the police were being successful in catching criminals, evidenced for instance by the recent apprehension of a pick-pocketing gang. Nonetheless, much more could be done, and he was putting pressure to keep improving things.

Pledging all his support to finding out who was responsible for what he described as a "macabre" crime, he added that the government had in a meeting with the opposition immediately following what had happened, committed itself to doing whatever had to be done in the context of solving the cime. Government and opposition had agreed not to disclose the details of what was said in the meeting.

While mentioning various areas the government was working on, such as improving the 112 service, revamping the prison’s security and drug rehabilitation programme and compensating for old police corps over-time payments, he criticised Busuttil for having attacked the entire police force in his speech, not limiting himself to the police commissioner.

The country had to unite to fight the criminal underworld which is attacking Malta, he asserted, and he had expected the opposition to at the very least recognise this.