Eight years after Daphne’s murder: How do they remember her?

Eight years after journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia was assassinated outside her Bidnija home, her legacy continues to cast a long shadow over Maltese society. 

Her murder on 16 October 2017 shocked the nation, drew international condemnation and exposed deep-rooted issues of corruption, impunity and political dysfunction in Malta. Yet, nearly a decade later, Daphne remains as polarising in death as she was in life. 

To some, she was a fearless journalist and an uncompromising voice who dared to expose the powerful, becoming a symbol of press freedom and accountability. To others, her sharp writing and personal tone reinforced divisions, fuelling resentment among those who viewed her work as elitist or vindictive. 

MaltaToday spoke to individuals across the political and social spectrum to understand how they feel about Daphne, eight years after her assassination.  

Their personal reflections paint a portrait of a country still grappling with questions of justice, rule of law, freedom of expression and accountability. Their reflections characterise a journalist, whether admired or resented, whose influence remains impossible to ignore till this very day. 

 

Adrian Delia, PN MP and former Opposition leader 

“I choose to remember Daphne as a fervent fighter against corruption and bad governance. No other journalist in our country has single-handedly exposed so much intrigue, plots and abuse than her. She feared nothing and no one.  

In all honesty I do not appreciate personal attacks beyond the remit of public office but everything pales into oblivion compared to the vicious assassination she had to succumb to in order to be silenced.  

Notwithstanding her many detractors and controversial pieces, she penned, I still believed she was a force to be reckoned with and admired her fearless attitude.  

Above all else, however, rather than only remember, one must persevere in seeking justice for the macabre bombing that still hasn’t seen convicted, the mastermind behind it all.” 

 

Neville Gafà, Blogger and Joseph Muscat loyalist 

“Daphne Caruana Galizia’s murder was a tragedy that shook the nation. On that day, I was serving within the Prime Minister’s Office, and we immediately and unequivocally condemned the assassination. We continue to do so every single day. 

Condemning her murder, however, does not mean sanctifying the person. Daphne was, in truth, an oppressor and a bully, someone who built her legacy on deliberate cruelty and the humiliation of others. 

My stance remains unchanged: Speak honestly of the dead, even if it means speaking ill of them. It is time to acknowledge the full truth and recognise the harm she inflicted. Daphne Caruana Galizia used her platform to tarnish individuals, spreading hatred and falsehoods while portraying herself as a moral authority. Yet, society knew who she really was—a tax evader, a hate blogger, a person accused of domestic violence, and the Nationalist Party’s corruption gatekeeper for 25 years. 

Since the day she launched her blog, the PN has never won an election—a fact that speaks volumes about the divisive and destructive legacy she left behind. 

Eight years on, the time has come to separate myth from reality. Justice requires truth, and truth demands honesty—even when it concerns the dead.” 

 

Jeremy Camilleri, Labour-leaning opinionist 

“Daphne Caruana Galizia writings were incisive, penetrating, knowledgeable, analytical, witty and expressed in beautifully written English. Objectivity however, was not her forte. 

She looked down on individuals connected or sympathetic to the Labour Party, and deemed ridicule against such individuals, some of whom not even in the public eye, as perfectly acceptable. 

Their private lives or family members were fair game and no stone was left unturned if she decided to metaphorically destroy these individuals. 

Prior to the 2013 election, her focus would also include any Nationalist who showed any signs of dissent within the Nationalist Party, performing a hatchet job on high profile politicians like Franco Debono and Jeffrey Pullicino Orlando. Their families were also not spared. 

At that time, I viewed Caruana Galizia as a barrier to free speech—bullying anyone, who she deemed unacceptable, into silence. 

That being said, this all pales into insignificance when compared to the nature of her tragic, and horrendous demise. 

We now know that she was on the road to exposing high level corruption when someone decided to assassinate her; scarring the nation for years to come, in the process. Her demise has left a critical void in our country. A void that in spite of attempts by others, has not been filled. 

She was no saint, nor demon, however she was sadly martyred for her writings. Hopefully, full justice is served in the near future.” 

 

Alex Agius Saliba, PL deputy leader 

“My comments are made with respect towards the memory of a journalist who was brutally murdered, and with an unequivocal condemnation of those who attack journalists while carrying out their duties. 

For me, Daphne was a figure who tried to ridicule and attack me for many years, with the sole reason being linked to my political activism since the age of 18. She never produced any investigative journalism about me, but instead wrote articles filled with personal attacks, lies, and malice that affected me as an 18-year-old at the very start of my political career. 

I always regarded her writing style as classist, divisive, and spiteful—one that deeply hurt many people. 

Although she did carry out genuine investigative journalism, the overwhelming majority of her writings were always aimed at belittling and attacking anyone who held a different opinion from hers.” 

 

Matthew Vella, freelancer and former MaltaToday editor 

“I can only say that I am disappointed that the course of justice and the speed of necessary reforms have been egregiously slow. Daphne’s assassination is what happens when the Faustian pact between politics and capital takes its logic to the extreme—it corrupts those around it with slavish loyalty and hatred, it loosens the screws of decency and humility, and all starts coming apart, in the name of self-enrichment. 

Unfortunately, the judicial process in the case of all of the Caruana Galizia conspirators and alleged perpetrators has also been marred by certain mercurial characters who have weaponised their access to the process of justice, to advance their own political aims. This kind of self-sabotage has allowed sceptics to dilute their support for an expeditious and judicious judicial resolution. 

Malta’s generational wounds are defined by the way power has been cruelly wielded upon others—the sins of the Catholic interdictions and other political battles against the working class that built Malta, the heinous murders of Karin Grech and Raymond Caruana, and the Caruana Galizia assassination. Justice for Daphne, irrespective on whose side we fashion ourselves to be on, is a necessary condition for democratic sanity in Malta.” 

 

Andre Callus, Moviment Graffitti activist 

“Daphne represents courage against dangerous powers. In life, I often did not agree with her or with the way she said certain things. I disagreed with her regularly and strongly. But she wasn’t killed because she offended someone. She was killed because she was exposing the intimate and corrupt behaviour between big business and politicians. She wasn’t killed because she offended Labourites. She exposed state capture from certain powerful people. These people were unelected but still managed to gain control of the state, and this is something we still see today, even with the government’s recent planning reform. Eight years later, Daphne continues to represent bravery in the face of these powerful people. Other things she might have done or said that I disagreed with, have no relevance today, especially in the context of how she was killed. She faced certain powers head-on, not just political powers but even economic ones.” 

 

Marlene Farrugia, former MP 

“For me Daphne Caruana Galizia will always be, and remain, the epitome of journalistic competence and courage; a bulwark of resilience in the face of extreme persecution, ridicule, psychological and even physical violence. She was a selfless guardian and protector of our country’s democratic standards, values and good sense. As a journalist she was savagely demonised. As a woman she was viciously abused by the most sexist, misogynistic orchestrated commentaries emanating even from the Office of the Prime Minister. 

As a mother she was constantly tormented. Being torn between her unquestionable loyalty to her country and profession and the love of her children and family who she knew were put through untold suffering, constant fear and real danger because of her journalistic effectiveness. Daphne was a gladiator in an impossible, terrifying arena and she did not scurry off to a safe place. She fought for what she believed was/is right. Physically she was brutally removed, but her writing lives on and resonates painfully with what we have been watching unfold daily before her death but even at an accelerated rate after her untimely demise. The relevance, significance and implications of what she was trying to convey to us throughout her professional life, particularly around the 2017 general election, are coming out more clearly in the everyday life we’re living; with the battles we are being forced to fight and the prospects that await us if we stay put. Daphne, her life and writing remain a point of reference for me; a beacon of hope and guidance, a source of encouragement and strength, especially in the darkest of times. Eight years on, for me, Daphne Caruana Galizia still means hope and a resounding tireless call to positive action each day, every day.” 

 

Louiselle Vassallo, Occupy Justice activist 

“I still find it very difficult to come to terms with the fact that an investigative journalist was assassinated in broad daylight in my beloved country, and the 16 October 2017 will always symbolise one of the darkest days in Malta’s history. 

Daphne Caruana Galizia, to me, was a beacon of light who refused to compromise, in spite of the danger she knew she was in. In a country as small and overcrowded as Malta, where retribution can be served thick and fast, where many often opt for the safety of silence, she had the nerve to expose wrongdoings, in spite of the onslaught she faced for decades. 

And yet, in spite of the horror of that bleak afternoon, justice is yet to be served, not only for her assassination but also for the stories that she investigated, as well as the implementation of the recommendations of the 2021 public inquiry report. Which is, perhaps, why I am thankful for the emergence of an ever-bolder civil society, the relentless work of brave and underappreciated journalists who have continued to pursue difficult stories, and that I am witnessing a community that has shown resilience in the face of extreme adversity.” 

 

Pia Zammit, Occupy Justice activist 

“Eight years on, Daphne Caruana Galizia represents both a wound and a warning. Her assassination was meant to silence her—and by extension, to silence all of us who dare to question, expose, or demand better. Instead, her voice multiplied. Out of her assassination came movements like #occupyjustice, born from outrage but sustained by determination—a group of ordinary women who refused to let impunity become Malta’s default setting. From that same resolve, Repubblika was formed—a rule of law NGO built to hold power to account and to ensure that justice, once demanded, could not be denied. For me, Daphne stands as the embodiment of moral courage; the insistence that truth matters even when it costs everything. As an activist, she reminds me that protest is not an act of anger but of love—love for justice, for our country, for the possibility of a cleaner public life. 

Eight years on, her absence is still felt in the silence that falls when power goes unchallenged. But her presence lives in every act of resistance, every banner raised, every young person who learns her story and decides they will not look away. Daphne is no longer just a journalist; she has become Malta’s conscience. And consciences, once awakened, cannot be killed.” 

 

Simon Busuttil, former Opposition leader 

“My last recollection of Daphne is her last blogpost which will remain forever imprinted in my mind. Posted a few minutes before her assassination, it was entitled: That crook Schembri was in court this morning, pleading that he is not a crook. 

It concerned a court sitting that took place that morning in a libel case that Keith Schembri, the prime minister’s chief of staff, had filed against me for calling him out as corrupt after Daphne exposed his secret company in Panama. In her post, which is still online, Daphne took him to task for having protested his innocence in court, signing off with a chillingly prescient warning: “There are crooks everywhere you look now. The situation is desperate.”  

After that sitting, it took a long time to finally drag Schembri back to the witness stand. He created all sorts of obstacles and excuses to avoid turning up in court for his cross-examination. 

That day finally came, on 11 November 2019, two years after the assassination. It was a dramatic sitting in which the magistrate warned Schembri that if he refused to answer the questions put to him by the defence, he would be held in contempt of court. On the fifth warning, he threw in the towel. Rather than face the truth, he withdrew the case. A few days later, he resigned, followed by his political master in quick succession.   

Eight years on, the crooks are still everywhere and the situation is still desperate. Justice for Daphne and for Malta continue to be delayed and denied.”