The Caruana Galizia family have expressed their 'dismay' that the letter sent to the Minister of Home Affairs and National Security Michael Farrugia was published.

"This was a private letter from the widower and sons of an assassination victim to their country’s minister who is responsible for the police and, ultimately, the assassination investigation.

"It is inappropriate and irregular that the Maltese government publishes a private letter from citizens to the Minister responsible for their security, more so to send it to every media outlet in the country with an accompanying media statement," they said.

The family has written to the minister saying that they would have preferred to "deal privately" with him, and that they were pre-empting the possibility of his publishing their letter by doing so themselves.

In the letter sent on Friday, the family said that it was the minister's duty to protect the right to life by ensuring that the state was a "credible deterrent to crime".

"The state cannot be a deterrent if the investigation continues to be ineffective due to willful or careless sabotage."

The family said it was surprised that the government had found the time to publish its letter but not to address its concerns about the effectiveness and independence of the ongoing investigation.