A year after the murder of the investigative journalist Jan Kuciak and his fiancée, Martina Kusnirova, it was with great joy that I read about the election of the new  Head of State (‘Zuzana Caputova elected first female President of Slovakia’, April 1).

Caputova, who is due to take office on June 15, believes in open, welcoming, kind and transparent societies. An environmental lawyer, she cut her teeth litigating and protesting against excessive building, waste and pollution in her home country. A novice in the political arena, she campaigned using the slogan Stand Up to Evil and has been described by the incumbent President, Andrej Kiska, as someone “who represents values like decency”. Even her main opponent in the election, who sent her flowers to congratulate her, seems to have welcomed Caputova’s election.

This wonderful electoral result augurs well. It shows that if people of goodwill step forward and put in the necessary amount of work, there can be light at the end of the tunnel, sunshine after the storm, hope that springs from desperation.

The scars will never disappear and those who paid for a good cause with their life will never see justice served but a social healing process can still take place.

One can only hope that Daphne Caruana Galizia did not die in vain and that Malta will also find a way to exorcise its demons and rehabilitate itself.