Daphne Project: nastavak priča Daphne Caruane Galizije

In March 2018, a group of investigative journalists continued the work of Maltese reporter Daphne Caruana Galizia after her assassination. The collaboration, known as the Daphne Project, was coordinated by Forbidden Stories, a Paris-based nonprofit organisation that helps journalists complete investigations left unfinished when reporters are threatened, imprisoned or killed.

Caruana Galizia was killed by a car bomb near her home in Bidnija, Malta, on 16 October 2017. At the time of her death, she was investigating corruption allegations, political influence, offshore companies and possible links between business and public officials. The Daphne Project was created to preserve her reporting and to examine documents, leads and questions that remained unresolved.

How the Daphne Project worked

Forbidden Stories assembled an international team of journalists from multiple news organisations and countries. The work involved examining Caruana Galizia’s published investigations, reviewing documents held by her family and colleagues, checking corporate records and seeking responses from people and institutions named in the reporting.

The collaboration reflected a central principle of investigative journalism: threats against one reporter should not automatically end a public-interest investigation. By sharing documents and editorial responsibility across borders, the participating journalists reduced the risk that the reporting would depend on a single newsroom or individual.

The Daphne Project was not presented as a substitute for a court of law. Its purpose was to continue reporting, verify information and bring matters of public interest to public attention.

The subjects under examination

The project covered several areas that had appeared in Caruana Galizia’s reporting and in related investigations by international media. These included questions surrounding Malta’s political and business networks, offshore structures, the sale of passports, public contracts, financial institutions and possible conflicts of interest.

One line of reporting concerned Pilatus Bank, a Maltese financial institution that had faced allegations involving the handling of politically exposed clients and suspicious transactions. The allegations were reported by several media organisations and were denied by people and entities concerned. Regulatory and legal developments were reported separately over time, and media reports should not be treated as judicial findings.

Another area concerned the Panama Papers and companies linked to Maltese political figures. The existence of an offshore company is not, by itself, proof of a crime. The journalistic questions focused on ownership, the purpose of structures, declarations made to authorities, tax treatment and whether public officials had properly disclosed relevant interests.

The reporting also examined public procurement and energy-related business interests. In these stories, journalists compared contracts, company records, government statements and information from sources. Allegations of corruption or improper influence require evidence and due process; publication of an allegation does not establish that it is true.

International reporting and source attribution

Forbidden Stories published the project with partner news organisations, including the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project and other European and international media. The participating outlets brought different areas of expertise, including corporate research, cross-border financial reporting, data analysis and local knowledge of Malta.

The project’s findings were reported by Forbidden Stories and its partners, rather than by an anonymous or collective source. Individual stories identified the documents, interviews and records on which their claims were based. Readers assessing the reporting should distinguish between verified facts, statements attributed to sources, allegations made by interested parties and conclusions that remain subject to investigation or litigation.

What happened in the legal proceedings

The murder of Daphne Caruana Galizia led to criminal proceedings in Malta. Three men were convicted after admitting involvement in the killing: Vincent Muscat pleaded guilty in 2021, while George Degiorgio and Alfred Degiorgio pleaded guilty in 2022 and received life sentences. These convictions concerned the execution of the murder and did not, on their own, resolve every question about who may have commissioned it or the wider circumstances surrounding the case.

Yorgen Fenech was charged in connection with the alleged commissioning of the murder and has denied the accusation. A charge is not a conviction, and the relevant proceedings must be understood through the evidence tested in court and the decisions issued by the Maltese justice system.

A separate public inquiry in Malta examined the circumstances that made the assassination possible. Its 2021 report concluded that the Maltese state had created a climate of impunity through failures connected with the rule of law and public institutions. The inquiry’s findings were not a criminal conviction of every person or institution criticised in public debate, but they provided an important official assessment of state responsibility and institutional failure.

Why the project remains significant

The Daphne Project demonstrated the practical value of cross-border investigative journalism. Financial structures, companies and political relationships frequently extend across jurisdictions, while the public consequences of those arrangements may be felt in one country. Cooperation allows journalists to compare records, share specialist knowledge and publish findings that would be difficult for a single newsroom to establish alone.

It also highlighted the risks faced by journalists investigating powerful interests. Caruana Galizia’s work, her murder and the reporting that followed raised questions about the safety of reporters, the protection of sources, the independence of public institutions and the responsibility of authorities to investigate threats before they become violence.

For readers, the project offers a lesson in how to approach complex investigations: consult the original reporting, examine the distinction between evidence and allegation, follow subsequent corrections and court decisions, and avoid treating a published claim as a final legal determination. The continuing relevance of the Daphne Project lies not only in the subjects it examined, but also in the collaborative method used to keep public-interest journalism alive.

Sources and original reporting

• Forbidden Stories, documentation and reporting on the Daphne Project.
• Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project, reporting produced in cooperation with the Daphne Project.
• Malta’s public inquiry into the assassination of Daphne Caruana Galizia, report published in 2021.
• Public records and court reporting concerning the convictions and criminal proceedings arising from the assassination.
• Original investigations by Maltese and international media participating in, or reporting alongside, the Daphne Project.

This overview distinguishes reported facts, attributed allegations and judicial findings. It does not make new accusations and should not be read as a determination of criminal or civil liability.