A group of MEPs have written to Vice President Frans Timmermans and Justice Commissioner Věra Jourová insisting the European Commission should closely monitor the investigation into the murder of Daphne Caruana Galizia.

In a letter, five MEPs hailing from different political groupings – David Casa, Ana Gomes, Monica Macovei, Maite Pagazaurtundúa and Stelio Kouloglou – also urge the European Commission to support the Caruana Galizia family’s call for an independent public inquiry into the murder.

“In view of the latest revelations of the Daphne Project, a group of world-renowned journalists continuing the work of investigative journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia, we feel it is our duty to draw your attention to the following facts relevant to the investigation into the assassination of Ms Caruana Galizia,” the MEPs write, before proceeding to list a series of information that was revealed by the consortium.

One of the five – Maltese MEP David Casa – had already written to Mr Timmermans on Monday, urging him to back calls for a public inquiry. Two government ministers, Owen Bonnici and Helena Dalli, sent Mr Timmermans their own letter on Tuesday, saying Mr Casa’s letter was “entirely baseless” and littered with “political posturing” and no proof.

In their letter, the five MEPs say that Maltese politicians exposed of having been involved in corruption and money laundering by Ms Caruana Galizia’s reporting continue to hold office.

They also note that Malta’s financial regulator, the MFSA, only filed a request to withdraw the licence of Pilatus Bank after the arrest of the bank’s chair, Ali Sadr Hasheminejad. Mr Hasheminejad faces a 125-year prison sentence in the US.
Audit firm Nexia BT, the MEPs went on, also continues to operate “without consequence and continues to receive lucrative government contracts”.

The letter also notes that Maltese courts found that deputy police commissioner Silvio Valletta’s involvement in the Caruana Galizia murder investigation was found by the courts to be in breach of Article 2 of the European Court of Human Rights. Deputy commissioner Valletta is married to Gozo Minister Justyne Caruana.

The MEPs also go on to highlight reports by the Daphne Project on Economy Minister Chris Cardona, who according to the most-recent reports as part of the consortium’s investigations allegedly received calls from a man once suspected of fuel smuggling and one of the men accused in Ms Caruana Galizia’s murder.

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