Prime Minister met with Caruana Galizia family over public inquiry

The Prime Minister met the family of Daphne Caruana Galizia and their legal representatives to discuss the public inquiry into the journalist’s assassination.

Joseph Muscat told Parliament on Monday that he had one meeting and did not exclude holding other meetings with the family’s legal representatives. It was later clarified that family members were also present for the meeting at Castille.

The Caruana Galizia family cast doubt on members appointed by the Prime Minister to conduct a public inquiry into the assassination.

Last month, Muscat tasked retired judge Michael Mallia, constitutional law professor Ian Refalo and forensic expert Anthony Abela Medici, to conduct a public inquiry that would also probe whether anything could have been done to prevent the murder.

The original request for an inquiry had been made by the Caruana Galizia family but government kept insisting that it had legal advice against such an inquiry while criminal investigations were ongoing.

However, last May, the Council of Europe adopted a damning report on the rule of law in Malta, which gave the government three months to appoint a public inquiry into the assassination. The government eventually complied at the end of the deadline.

The Caruana Galizia family said Mallia and Refalo had a conflict of interest and were unsuitable to sit on the inquiry. Abela Medici’s expertise was secondary to the task at hand, the family added.

Muscat had immediately accepted a request by the family to meet. It is unclear when the meeting took place and in Parliament this evening, the Prime Minister did not divulge what was discussed.

The Opposition welcomed the choice of Mallia but cast doubt on the appointment of Refalo and Abela Medici. Opposition leader Adrian Delia had also called on the Prime Minister to consult with the family on the composition of the inquiry.