This archive report was first published on 7 December 2019.
December 7, 2019
Malta's Prime Minister Joseph Muscat announced his resignation in January, following mass protests over a probe into the 2017 murder of investigative journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia.
However, before his resignation, Muscat met with Pope Francis at the Vatican, despite a plea from 22 Maltese academics to cancel the meeting.
The academics had written a letter to the Pope, expressing their concerns that the meeting would be a 'propaganda exercise' for the Prime Minister.
Caruana Galizia, a mother of three, was blown up in a car bomb attack near her home in October 2017.
She had become known for exposing cronyism and sleaze within Malta's political and business elite, including among Muscat's inner circle.
The Pope had previously sent a formal note of condolences to Caruana Galizia's family, a rare gesture for a private citizen.
