The team of police tasked with investigating the murder of journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia seemed to include officers “with no interest in seeing the investigations progress”, Reporters Without Borders said.

In a report published this week, the international organisation that promotes freedom of expression organisation outlined the hardships faced by journalists around the world, including those in Malta.

“A year after Daphne Caruana Galizia’s murder in Malta in October 2017, it is clear that the investigation is not progressing. This does not bode well for a successful conclusion because the passage of time always benefits the killers,” it commented.

Read: Malta failing to guarantee freedom of expression - NGOs

The Paris-based organisation pointed out that the masterminds behind such murders “take precautions and usually limit any possible tracks and clues by using professional killers”.

The report labelled Malta as “the symbol of persecution of investigative journalists” and included an overview of Ms Caruana Galizia and the work she carried out before her assassination.

“From Beijing to Moscow, from Tijuana to Bogota, from Malta to Slovakia, investigative journalists who shed light on the deals that involve organised crime unleash the wrath of gangsters, whose common feature is an aversion to any publicity unless they control it,” Reporters Without Borders said.

Since Ms Caruana Galizia’s murder, the organisation spoke about the situation in Malta on several occasions.

In October, while on a fact-finding mission on the island to mark one year since the journalist’s murder, the organisation, together with several other NGOs, said that Malta was failing to live up to its obligations to guarantee and safeguard freedom of expression.

The groups also said the apparent lack of progress in the investigation into Ms Caruana Galizia’s murder was having a “chilling effect” on public interest investigative reporting.

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