VALLETTA: The masterminds behind the 2017 car-bomb murder of Maltese journalist and blogger Daphne Caruana Galizia have been identified according to unnamed police sources quoted by The Sunday Times of Malta.

The report quoted high-ranking officers as saying that a group of “more than two” Maltese nationals had been identified as having ordered her killing.

Three suspects are under arrest for having carried out the murder and facing trial, but the identity of whoever ordered it has remained a mystery.

Caruana Galizia, who died on October 16 last year aged 53, sought to expose scandals from petrol smuggling to money laundering, implicating members of the government and organised crime.

Her blog also launched highly personal attacks on Maltese politicians.

Caruana Galizia’s journalist son Matthew last month blasted what he called a “system of impunity” he said was protecting those who ordered her killing.

Her son, who believes the murder was ordered by powerful figures, said it would “send a terrible lesson if only the people who pressed the button to detonate the bomb ended up in prison”.

Three men stand charged with her murder. Brothers Alfred Degiorgio and George Degiorgio as well as Vince Muscat were arrested on December 4 last year and charged with the murder. Their case is still pending.

The Caruana Galizia family said on Sunday that they was not formally informed by the police that the suspected masterminds had been identified.

Published in Dawn, November 19th, 2018