I never formally met her, so in that sense, I did not know her. But I have read much of her work, I have spoken with many who knew her well, I have listened to those who disagreed with her, and I have heard those who hate(d) her. In that sense, I know something of her.

Over the past six years, I have observed the extraordinary lengths corrupt Maltese politicians (at the very highest levels), their media apologists and their political foot soldiers have gone to in their attempt to smear and obliterate her name, her person, her work, and her legacy. In that sense, I also know something more about her (and them).

As a result of her assassination, Daphne Caruana Galizia has become a political lightning rod and a national and international symbol of much that is worst and best in Maltese society. She will be forever, a key hinge upon which future Maltese history pivots.

Despite her public prominence and notoriety, Daphne always managed to remain tellingly human (in every sense) - a daughter, sister, wife, mother, friend, and colleague and despite extensive effort to dehumanise and demonise her, that remains so. The evident affection, love, and respect that her family, friends, especially her parents and her sons, exhibited for her speaks volumes.

So too, the disrespect, hostility, and hatred of those who continue to this day to vilify her.

Even many who often strongly disagreed with her for what she wrote (or how she wrote it) recognised her as a formidable, talented, and tenacious (and sometime hugely popular) journalist who exposed many of Malta’s darkest secrets. Most especially those involving members of the country’s business and political elite. 

The main stories she uncovered and held up to public scrutiny reverberate to this day and did not die with her. Her assassination and all that followed gave credibility to her revelations and her commentary. 

Daphne Caruana Galizia through her life, her work, her many legal battles, and her consequent murder highlighted the importance of independent analysis and journalism. In a country still significantly in thrall to party and state-controlled media, she personified one key pillar of democracy – a free press.

And she did this as a self-aware female journalist in a predominantly male and routinely misogynist culture (including in journalism itself). 

Her final comment that ‘there are crooks everywhere’ crystallised the essence of her work. She relentlessly exposed systematic criminality and the impunity that accompanied it, the realities of state and institutional capture and therefore state failure and the urgent need for accountability. 

In this, she popularly documented (in a manner not previously achieved) what almost all Maltese already knew/know and discuss on a daily basis in the square, band club, dinner table etc.  In that sense, Daphne was quintessentially Maltese but with informed intuition, razor-sharp skills, and a laser focus.  She was also a conduit for information and leads from her extensive network of contacts giving the lie to the argument that she was a lone voice.

For all of this, she was most brutally assassinated.  The eventual public inquiry into her killing held the State responsible given the culture of impunity that reigned and the accompanying climate of intimidation and threat involving many of the most senior Maltese politicians and administrators.  As the Times of Malta subsequently declared ‘something is rotten at the core, so rotten it now threatens to undermine everything’.  We continue to relentlessly witness that reality .

Daphne epitomised the pivotal role of individual acts of tenacity and courage, but, as we have seen sustained success in challenging criminality and strengthening political and institutional accountability depends on all of us individually and collectively.  Universal democratic principles can never be taken for granted, they need constant strengthening and frequent use. 

Daphne’s life and work are a crucial reminder that democracy is not just an ideal, it is an agenda of personal, professional, and civic struggle, often at high cost.