The events of last month shook me to the core. Although I am not from Malta, I have over the last few years gotten to know Daphne Caruana Galizia.

From both speaking to her numerous times, exchanging numerous e-mails and reading her work, I learned that she was a staunch defendant of Malta and its people. Most of all she was a defender of the truth and to me it seemed that in all her writing she only showed concern for her beloved country.

It is almost impossible to understand what happened last month in Malta. How could it be that such a thing can happen in Europe? I understand it happening in a faraway war-torn land, but in Europe?

As a distant observer of Malta, I have gotten used to seeing scandal after scandal, all of which was reported by Daphne. As a professional in the international citizenship by investment industry, I was obviously especially interested in her articles about the Individual Investment Programme in Malta. I was interested in her reporting of the cosy relationship between the government and a certain company.

I always followed her research as she tried to get an understanding of an arrangement with a company that costs the Maltese people millions and millions, or perhaps tens of millions of euros, while providing no apparent value whatsoever in return. I was amazed how after many years, finally parts of the contract between that company and the government came to light and Daphne immediately understood that it was all a farce that truly hurts the interests of the Maltese people.

I was further, I guess, amused at how Daphne uncovered the fact that this company was able to contractually force high government officials to travel around the world on their behalf and promote the company’s services, which amazingly continues to happen to this day. She wrote about this, and interestingly also, published the correspondence that she received from them and their lawyers threatening her with law suits that would have cost her huge amounts and potentially could have bankrupted her. All just to block her from publishing the truth.

Basically, Daphne uncovered the really dark side of the citizenship by investment industry. This industry is all about people and giving people more options in life. Not all people were born in modern democratic countries like Malta and while clearly many refugees want to be able to reach Malta’s shores, so do people of means. High net worth individuals want much of the same things that others want, with the only difference being that they can pay for it.

However, where there is investment money coming in to a country that truly needs it, you often find those who will take advantage of such a country. Daphne was truly brave in calling this out. It seemed to me that she simply did not want Malta to be taken advantage of by anybody, and more so by those who pretend that their interests are those of Malta’s.

I don’t know if Daphne thought that there was a way for the IIP in Malta to be run in a transparent, upstanding way, with the interests of the people being paramount and not that of one company. I personally believe this could and should happen.

But this is not about the IIP, it is about Daphne and her love for her country, for which she paid with her life.

May her soul rest in peace and may her journalistic work continue to be a moral beacon for Malta and the world.