Peter Caruana Galizia welcomes Prime Minister’s retraction of ‘one of the most painful comments’ family had to bear

The statement by Peter Caruana Galizia, husband of assassinated journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia, is being reproduced in full:

“Prime Minister Robert Abela has admitted that he was wrong when he alleged, in a 1st September 2018 Facebook post, that my three sons were on a mission to derail the investigation into their mother’s assassination.

His comments were made in the context of our call for a public inquiry into the causes that led to Daphne’s assassination, a foreseeable consequence of the climate of impunity prevailing at the time of her murder which is still, largely, with us today.

I can say that Dr Abela’s allegation was one of the most painful comments my sons and I have had to bear since the 16th October 2017, when Daphne was killed.

Since that date, my sons and I have strived to ensure full justice is achieved for my wife and their mother and to ensure that all the persons involved – and it is now clear there were many – are investigated, arraigned, and convicted.

This will not bring Daphne back, but it is the least we can expect from our government – a government that has, for endless months, been hostile towards us and twisted facts, through persons close to the then prime minister Joseph Muscat, to imply that my son Matthew was complicit in the assassination and that I had a motive to kill my wife.

It is therefore heartening to learn from the media that Dr Abela has now retracted his allegation and that he has found in himself the courage and integrity to say so.

My sons and I welcome his commitment to provide the Malta Police Force with all the resources it needs to ensure that all persons involved in the corruption and impunity, and in Daphne’s assassination and subsequent cover-ups, are made to answer for their crimes.

This is why we have stated repeatedly, Malta cannot ensure full justice without a Europol Joint Investigation Team (JIT) and that we expect our Attorney General to set this in motion immediately.”