Updated 5.30pm
The assasination of Daphne Caruana Galizia was not a crime like any other, Italian politician Antonio di Pietro said on Sunday evening, saying that it was not enough to find out who had killed her but rather who ordered it.
"There is only one way to get this...by making your voices heard. Daphne Caruana Galizia was killed, because she was isolated. That is why you must unite," he told the crowd.
The anti-corruption campaigner warned that corruption whittles away the system, and that people needed to remain alert as the mafia was ingrained in society.
"In a democracy there must be respect for the laws. I am here to show that this can happen. I am here because I saw that people were giving up on democracy, just like in Italy, where so many had to die before the matter was tackled.
"I see all of you reacting to what happened in your country and that is a good sign," he said to applause.
Former FIAU employee Jonathan Ferris and the widower of blogger Daphne Caruana Galizia were among the people gathering in front of the Parliament as the latest in a string of protests about the breakdown in the rule of law.
Former Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi, and Michael Briguglio were also with those gathered, with a sizable crowd which assembled in front of the Law Courts. Protesters laid flowers and banners outside the impromptu memorial for Ms Caruana Galizia outside the Law Courts in Valletta before making their way to Parliament bear banners with the slogans “Mafia state” and “money in your pockets, blood on your hands” as well as representations of bay leaves, a symbol of the protests.
One of the banners said "The situation is desperate", an oft-quoted line from Ms Caruana Galizia's last post before her assassination.
The Valletta rally was the third organised by the Civil Society Network since the October murder of Daphne Caruana Galizia. The activist group is calling for the removal of the police commissioner and attorney general, with laws changed to ensure their replacements are nominated by two-thirds of parliament.
Writer Immanuel Mifsud, journalist Caroline Muscat, CSN activist Miriam Galea and Italian investigative journalist Marilu Matrogiovanni expected to made speeches at the event.
The main speaker, however, was Italian politician and former anti-corruption prosecutor Antonio di Pietro, who became a household name as the front man of Italy's 'clean hands' campaign to battle the mafia in the 1990s.