Thousands took to streets to for the slain anti-corruption journalist

Thousands of people poured into the streets of the Maltese capital, Valletta, on Sunday to voice their indignation over the death of a prominent investigative journalist, known for exposing state corruption, who was killed by a car bomb last week.

The government on Saturday announced a €1 million reward for information which can help to trace the suspects in the death of Daphne Caruana Galizia, Malta’s best known investigative journalist and the author of a hugely popular blog, which she used to shed light on shady dealings of high-ranking officials, including the country’s prime minster, and, in particular, their alleged offshore dealings unveiled in the Panama Papers scandal.

The demonstrators were marching through the streets, carrying banners that quoted the last words the journalist ever wrote in her blog: “There are crooks everywhere you look now. The situation is desperate.”

Some were wearing white T-shits with the same words emblazoned on them. Protesters demanded that justice is served in the case of Caruana Galizia, accusing police of falling short of finding any clues in the ongoing investigation and failing to ensure the safety of the journalist in the first place, and more broadly, freedom of speech.

Addressing the crowd, Christophe Deloire, secretary-general of Reporters without Borders, drew parallels between the assassination of Galizia and the January 2015 attack on Charlie Hebdo magazine.

"You remember, we gathered, almost three years ago, in Paris, after the Charlie Hebdo killing. We have gathered today in Valletta for Daphne and everybody can say ‘I am Daphne, je suis Daphne,’" he said, as quoted by AFP.

Last week, WikiLeaks editor Julian Assange offered his own bounty of €20,000 for leads to her murderers, calling her killing a “barbaric act.”

(RT)