Monthly Daphne Caruana Galizia vigil cancelled for first time over jury concerns
Repubblika say they were advised holding it could be 'misrepresented as attempt to influence jury'
A monthly vigil held since the murder of Daphne Caruana Galizia has been cancelled for the first time after organisers were advised that holding it could be "misrepresented" as an attempt to influence the jury in the Yorgen Fenech trial.
Organisers had planned a silent vigil at 5.30pm on Thursday to mark the 105th month since the journalist was assassinated in a car bomb as she drove away from her home in Bidnija.
The vigil has been held on the 16th of every month at the makeshift memorial to the 53-year-old at the Great Siege Monument, opposite the law courts where the businessman accused of ordering the murder is currently on trial.
"Because of the trial, we planned to meet today for a silent gathering without speeches," NGO Repubblika, one of the organisers, told Times of Malta.
"However, we were advised that a gathering of any form might be misrepresented as an attempt to influence the jury. We of course have no such intent, but we have decided to cancel the vigil out of prudence. We continue to follow the trial closely and continue to hope for justice for Daphne Caruana Galizia.”
Organisers said this was the first time the monthly vigil was cancelled. During the COVID-19 pandemic, some vigils were held remotely "but otherwise we met on the 16th of every month, rain or shine".
Fenech is charged with complicity in the assassination. Five men have already been convicted in connection with the murder.
The assassination in October 2017 triggered one of Malta's deepest political crises. Mass protests followed Fenech's arrest in November 2019, culminating in the resignation of then-prime minister Joseph Muscat.
A subsequent public inquiry concluded the state had created an atmosphere of impunity that enabled the assassination.