Daphne Anne Caruana Galizia (née Vella; 26 August 1964 – 16 October 2017) was a Maltese writer, journalist, blogger and anti-corruption activist, who reported on political events in Malta and was known internationally for her investigation of the Panama Papers, and subsequent assassination by car bomb.

[3] Caruana Galizia's national and international reputation was built on her regular reporting of misconduct by Maltese politicians and politically exposed persons.

[8] On 16 October 2017, Caruana Galizia died close to her home when a car bomb was detonated inside her vehicle,[9] attracting widespread local and international condemnation of the attack.

[2] Caruana Galizia was arrested on 8 March 2013 for breaking the political silence on the day before the 2013 general election, after posting videos mocking Joseph Muscat.

[7] On 22 February 2016, Caruana Galizia's Running Commentary blog reported that Maltese government minister Konrad Mizzi had connections with Panama and New Zealand.

[31] On 25 February, Caruana Galizia revealed that Prime Minister Joseph Muscat's chief of staff Keith Schembri owned a similar trust in New Zealand, which in turn held a Panama company.

[33] As the first person to break news of Mizzi's and Schembri's involvement in Panama,[24] she was subsequently named by Politico as one of "28 people who are shaping, shaking and stirring Europe".

Muscat claimed that the allegations were the reason he called the June 2017 general elections almost a year early, a vote which saw his Labour Party return to power.

[12] This company had been featured in the journalist's investigative work on the Panama Papers in relation to Keith Schembri and Konrad Mizzi, who – along with cabinet member Chris Cardona – resigned their government posts on 26 November.

[41] From 20 November, crowds had begun calling on PM Joseph Muscat to resign (see 2019 Maltese protests) after he said he might pardon the "middleman" in the murder case.

[46] In February 2017, a legal fund was crowdfunded to cover four precautionary warrants – freezing Caruana Galizia's assets to the tune of €50,000 – for the maximum libel damages possible at law.

[47] These warrants had been instituted by the Deputy Leader of the Labour Party and Minister for the Economy, Chris Cardona, and his EU presidency policy officer, Joseph Gerada.

[48] On 16 October 2017, a few moments after Caruana Galizia left her home in Bidnija, a car bomb placed in her leased Peugeot 108 exploded, killing her instantly.

Caruana Galizia was in the driver's seat at the time, when the blast threw the car 80 metres into an adjacent field where her bodily remains were found by her son Matthew.

[51] The power to set up a public inquiry into whether the assassination of Daphne Caruana Galizia could have been prevented, rested with then Maltese Prime Minister, Joseph Muscat.

[52] Her family criticized the Maltese authorities for doing nothing against a growing "culture of impunity" in Malta, saying that Joseph Muscat, Keith Schembri, Chris Cardona, Konrad Mizzi, Attorney General Peter Grech and a long list of police commissioners who took no action, were politically responsible for her death.

President Marie Louise Coleiro Preca, Archbishop Charles Scicluna and a number of politicians also expressed their condolences or condemned the car bomb attack.

[56] Gerard Ryle, director of the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists, stated that the organization is "shocked" by Caruana Galizia's assassination and "is deeply concerned about freedom of the press in Malta".

[60] Following this visit and the following debate, a delegation is to be sent by the European Parliament to investigate the rule of law, high-level cases of money laundering, and corruption in Malta.

Caruana Galizia's name began trending worldwide on Twitter,[56] and a number of Maltese expressed their mourning by blacking out their Facebook profile pictures.

[68] Students, alumni, teachers, parents and members of the San Anton community held a peaceful vigil from City Gate to the Great Siege Monument in Valletta, in support of the Caruana Galizia family.

Thousands of protesters demanded justice in the aftermath of the car bomb attack, and called for the immediate resignation of the Police Commissioner and the Attorney General.

After staging a sit-in protest in front of the main door, a banner with a photo of police chief Lawrence Cutajar accompanied with the words "No change, no justice – irrizenja (resign)" was placed on the headquarters' gate.

[15] After her death, crowds gathered in front of the Law Courts, to mourn and express solidarity with the Caruana Galizia family and to demand justice.

[72] The choice of this monument as a protest site, though strategically located opposite the law courts, was spontaneous, a follow-up to the flowers which were first placed there by San Anton School pupils.

The head of the magisterial inquiry was initially to be Magistrate Consuelo Scerri Herrera, who had previously had the police prosecute Caruana Galizia for criminal libel in 2010–11.

On 4 December 2017, Joseph Muscat announced that ten individuals had been arrested in connection to the investigation, three of whom were later charged with executing the car bomb attack.

[87] Numerous mass protests were held calling for Prime Minister Joseph Muscat's resignation, in part over his purported association with Caruana Galizia's murder.

[99] The funeral Mass was conducted by Charles Scicluna, Archbishop of Malta, who in his homily told journalists: "[Never] grow weary in your mission to be the eyes, the ears, and the mouth of the people.

[102] Caruana Galizia was buried in the family grave at the Santa Maria Addolorata Cemetery in Paola, Malta's largest burial ground.