On Thursday an inquiry into the assassination of journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia published a 437-page report which concluded that the state should shoulder responsibility for the journalist's death.

This is what the report said about some of the protagonists:

Former prime minister Joseph Muscat:

"Muscat’s behaviour could, at best, indicate he was in a complete state of self-denial about what was going on in his own Cabinet, and at worse be considered as a weak attempt at extreme misdirecting (depistaggio in extremis) the investigation...

The prime minister’s conduct, the abusive way in which he continued to protect his chief of staff and retaining his important administrative role until his arrest in connection with the assassination, is unacceptable, condemnable and reflects grievous shortcomings and abusive behaviour in his functions as head of government...

Muscat assumes that the assassination had a direct link to politics, so much so that he observed that whoever committed the crime, apart from being a criminal and an assassin, was also stupid as they committed it at a time when Caruana Galizia had become nearly politically irrelevant...

There is no doubt that the publication of the Panama Papers and the involvement of the former minister Konrad Mizzi and Chief of Staff Keith Schembri conditioned and changed the country’s political scene, and irretrievably prejudiced the government led by Muscat...

The concept of ‘intimacy’, which, for Muscat, is apparently inevitable between those exercising power and those who negotiate capital, is alarming for this board."

Former chief of staff Keith Schembri

"It has been proven that Muscat’s Chief of Staff [Keith Schembri] had a free hand (mano libera) to act, as he was deemed capable, a doer and one who produced results...

[Schembri] was undoubtedly at the tip of the pyramid, at the same level as the prime minister. The two confirmed that they were not just good friends who trusted each other nearly blindly but also treated each other as siblings. All evidence reflects this reality...

Schembri’s position as the not-so much hidden hand that controlled power at such a relevant time, cannot be discarded. The whole truth over this matter is still yet to come out."

The Police, Lawrence Cutajar

"At the time, the Police, under Commissioner Lawrence Cutajar did hardly anything. They certainly didn’t do what they should have done. He certainly did less than his predecessor Michael Cassar, who opened a file called Operation Green after the release of information about the Panama Papers and after being informed that the FIAU was working on the matter...

The board has no doubt that had the competent authorities, like the police, or the regulatory authorities, taken the steps that should have been taken at the right moment to preserve the evidence, once there were grievous allegations of irregularities and illegalities that should have obviously been investigated immediately, much more evidence would have been retained and preserved."

The Labour Party

"The Labour Party considered [Caruana Galizia] as not just a journalist from the opposing camp that could inflict damage, but more so as a political adversary with the potential that, if left unrestrained, could condition the electorate and endanger a favourable electoral result...

The sustained denigrating and strong campaign peaked on social media, and its worst expression was the blog that was set up and led by Glenn Beddingfield, who used to occupy a role in the Office of the Prime Minister."

Daphne Caruana Galizia

"Daphne Caruana Galizia was a journalist of high calibre who for many years dedicated her life to investigating the behaviour of public administration in her search for the truth to ensure good governance...

A lot has been written and will be written on the life and writings of Daphne Caruana Galizia and the impact that her journalistic work had, and will have, on socio-political life. No one, not even her biggest critics and those who eventually eliminated her, cast doubt on the ability and incisiveness of her investigations...

Throughout her life, she was, and became more so after being assassinated, an icon of free press in her country, in Europe and beyond...

At a time when the Opposition was weak and had experienced two large electoral losses, through her writings, Caruana Galizia took on, even if involuntarily, the role of a ‘politician’. In Joseph Muscat’s words, she was practically the only opposition." 

The alleged assassins

"The people who are currently accused of involvement in the assassination were convinced that they enjoyed protection from people in power."

Journalism

"An attack on journalism, especially coming from those with political or financial power, whether through physical violence or measures meant to hinder or silence it, is an attack on the fundamental right of freedom of expression and democracy."

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