Malta police arrest eight suspects in murder of blogger: PM

MATTHEW MIRABELLI | AFP | Getty Images

Children place cards and flowers at an informal memorial site as thousands gather during a national rally to demand justice for murdered Maltese journalist and anti-corruption blogger Daphne Caruana Galizia in the island’s capital Valletta on October 22, 2017.

Caruana Galizia, 53, was murdered on Oct. 16 as she was driving away from her house in northern Malta.

She wrote a popular blog in which she relentlessly highlighted cases of alleged graft targeting politicians from across party lines.

Galizia was following leads from the Panama Papers that were leaked in 2015 and show how the world’s rich use offshore firms to hide their wealth. She had also accused senior figures in government and opposition of corruption and money laundering.

They have all denied the accusations and Galizia was hit with 36 libel suits in the nine months preceding her death.

Her murder shocked Malta and raised concern within the European Union about the rule of law on the tiny Mediterranean island. Concluding a factfinding mission on Friday, a group of EU lawmakers said there was a “perception of impunity” in Malta.