President George Vella visits Bidnija site where Daphne Caruana Galizia was killed

President George Vella visited the site where journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia was murdered in Bidnija on Monday morning. 

The President and his wife Miriam Vella were accompanied by the journalist's family as they paid their respects by placing a wreath at the site where Caruana Galizia was killed by a car bomb in 2017.

A statement from the Office of the President said that the visit was made following several exchanges between the President and the Caruana Galizia family from 3 September onwards. 

In July of this year, a public inquiry found that the State had to bear the responsibility for the death of Caruana Galizia because it allowed an "atmosphere of impunity" to fester.

Vella said he believed all the recommendations of the public inquiry’s report into the assassination of Caruana Galizia should be implemented and that he hoped the report would be the start of a national healing process. 

The president said he believed all the recommendations of the public inquiry report into the assassination of Caruana Galizia should be implemented

In a statement after the visit, Caruana Galizia’s family said they welcomed the President's gesture in view of the public inquiry’s findings.

“We welcome the President’s gesture as the Maltese state’s recognition of Daphne’s memory and sacrifice and its acknowledgement that it must bear responsibility for her assassination and for its failure to prevent real and immediate risks to her life,” the family said.

Caruana Galizia’s family said that they shared the president’s hope that the implementation of the public inquiry’s recommendations will begin to heal the national trauma of her murder and that this will lead to the restoration of the rule of law in Malta, effective protection for journalists, and an end to impunity.

READ MORE: President George Vella: Caruana Galizia inquiry report can be start for national healing