Malta should take responsibility for the 2017 murder of investigative journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia as it created “an atmosphere of impunity” that put her life at risk, a public inquiry concluded.
The October 2017 car-bomb killing of Caruana Galizia, who exposed cronyism and sleaze within Malta's political and business elite, sparked international outrage and protests that forced the resignation of former prime minister Joseph Muscat.
A panel of three judges wrote in a 437-page report that although they had not found proof of government involvement, Mr Muscat and his entire former Cabinet should be held responsible.
“The state should shoulder responsibility for the assassination,” read the report, which took about two years to compile, Maltese news media reported on Thursday.
“It created an atmosphere of impunity, generated from the highest echelons of the administration … the tentacles of which then spread to other institutions, such as the police and regulatory authorities, leading to a collapse in the rule of law”, the report read.
Caruana Galizia, 53, has been described as a “one-woman WikiLeaks".
The blogger was known for investigating high-level corruption and contributed to the 2016 Panama Papers data leak.
Her family said the panel's findings confirmed their belief “that her assassination was a direct result of the collapse of the rule of law and the impunity that the state provided to the corrupt network she was reporting on".
“We hope that its findings will lead to the restoration of the rule of law in Malta, effective protection for journalists and an end to the impunity that the corrupt officials Daphne investigated continue to enjoy,” they said.
The panel found the state had shirked its duty to protect Caruana Galizia and allowed her to be subjected to personal attacks and verbal abuse from politicians.
The atmosphere created a “favourable climate” for her assassination and there was “convincing evidence” that her killers knew they would be protected “persons in the highest state positions".
Mr Muscat stepped down in January 2020 after widespread anger and mass protests over his perceived efforts to protect friends and allies from the investigation.
The continuing criminal investigation has thus far charged three men over the murder, with one of them sentenced in February to 15 years in prison.
In March, Mr Muscat's former chief of staff, Keith Schembri, was charged with crimes including corruption, fraud and money laundering.
He claims innocence.
In a lengthy statement on Facebook in reaction to the inquiry's report, Mr Muscat said the swift arrest of the alleged hitmen following Caruana Galizia's murder “disproves any impression of impunity” they may have had.
He added that prior governments had acted with impunity before his term of office.
“Despite the very serious reservations on the shortcomings of the inquiry, I accept the said conclusions as I have always done in the past out of respect for the institutions,” he said.
He said he had “paid the ultimate political price".
A series of recommendations by the panel include measures to increase transparency and break the cozy relationship between business and politics, as well as improved protection for journalists.
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Key findings of Jenkins report
- Founder of the Muslim Brotherhood, Hassan al Banna, "accepted the political utility of violence"
- Views of key Muslim Brotherhood ideologue, Sayyid Qutb, have “consistently been understood” as permitting “the use of extreme violence in the pursuit of the perfect Islamic society” and “never been institutionally disowned” by the movement.
- Muslim Brotherhood at all levels has repeatedly defended Hamas attacks against Israel, including the use of suicide bombers and the killing of civilians.
- Laying out the report in the House of Commons, David Cameron told MPs: "The main findings of the review support the conclusion that membership of, association with, or influence by the Muslim Brotherhood should be considered as a possible indicator of extremism."
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The smuggler
Eldarir had arrived at JFK in January 2020 with three suitcases, containing goods he valued at $300, when he was directed to a search area.
Officers found 41 gold artefacts among the bags, including amulets from a funerary set which prepared the deceased for the afterlife.
Also found was a cartouche of a Ptolemaic king on a relief that was originally part of a royal building or temple.
The largest single group of items found in Eldarir’s cases were 400 shabtis, or figurines.
Khouli conviction
Khouli smuggled items into the US by making false declarations to customs about the country of origin and value of the items.
According to Immigration and Customs Enforcement, he provided “false provenances which stated that [two] Egyptian antiquities were part of a collection assembled by Khouli's father in Israel in the 1960s” when in fact “Khouli acquired the Egyptian antiquities from other dealers”.
He was sentenced to one year of probation, six months of home confinement and 200 hours of community service in 2012 after admitting buying and smuggling Egyptian antiquities, including coffins, funerary boats and limestone figures.
For sale
A number of other items said to come from the collection of Ezeldeen Taha Eldarir are currently or recently for sale.
Their provenance is described in near identical terms as the British Museum shabti: bought from Salahaddin Sirmali, "authenticated and appraised" by Hossen Rashed, then imported to the US in 1948.
- An Egyptian Mummy mask dating from 700BC-30BC, is on offer for £11,807 ($15,275) online by a seller in Mexico
- A coffin lid dating back to 664BC-332BC was offered for sale by a Colorado-based art dealer, with a starting price of $65,000
- A shabti that was on sale through a Chicago-based coin dealer, dating from 1567BC-1085BC, is up for $1,950
The Sand Castle
Director: Matty Brown
Stars: Nadine Labaki, Ziad Bakri, Zain Al Rafeea, Riman Al Rafeea
Rating: 2.5/5
Tonight's Chat on The National
Tonight's Chat is a series of online conversations on The National. The series features a diverse range of celebrities, politicians and business leaders from around the Arab world.
Tonight’s Chat host Ricardo Karam is a renowned author and broadcaster who has previously interviewed Bill Gates, Carlos Ghosn, Andre Agassi and the late Zaha Hadid, among others.
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Killing of Qassem Suleimani
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