Hundreds of people joined Daphne Caruana Galizia's children Paul, Andrew and Matthew on Sunday in a silent gathering at the murder site in Bidnija to mark the fifth anniversary of the journalist's assassination.

European Parliament president Roberta Metsola and anti-mafia activist Maria Falcone were in attendance together with former PN leader Simon Busuttil, MEP David Casa and PN general secretary Michael Piccinino. There were also several journalists.

At 3pm a bell was rung marking a minute’s silence for reflection as drops of rain fell gently to the ground.

Attendees held out pictures of the slain journalist and raised the palm of their hand which had already been drawn with the number five, to signify the five years that have passed since the murder. 

Parts of Daphne's blog entries, published a few months before her assassination, were then read by several women, to emphasise her work and legacy.

"Key members of the government are obsessed with a single journalist," Clemence Dujardin of Occupy Justice read.

Wearing a t-shirt reading Daphne Kellha Raġun [Daphne was right] and reading an extract dated April 2017, a woman said "Malta is now in a terrible mess, if Muscat and his henchman survive, Malta won't," referring to former prime minister Joseph Muscat who resigned as prime minister in 2019 as a result of developments relating to the murder.

Attendees were then invited to lay flowers at the site of the murder to the background of folk music.

The silent gathering is one of three events on Sunday to commemorate the journalist’s legacy.

Mass was celebrated by archbishop Charles Scicluna at the murder site at  Bidnija Church, a stone’s throw away from Caruana Galizia's home, at 9.30am and a demonstration calling for justice is being held at 6.30pm, starting from in front of parliament in Valletta and ending in front of the law courts, where a vigil will then be held.