This English version is a courtesy translation of the official Press Release issued via the Department of Information.
Yesterday afternoon the President of Malta, George Vella, received a copy of the Report of the Public Inquiry Board on the assassination of journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia.
The President took note of the Inquiry Board’s conclusions and recommendations and while he has yet to examine more and better what has been decided and what has been recommended, his first reaction is that these recommendations should be respected and, wherever possible, implemented. As the process has now been concluded, President Vella reiterated the importance, as he has done on several occasions during his Presidency, that judicial structures should be allowed to function without interference and external pressure, so that justice can prevail.
President Vella believes that this report can, and should, serve as a point of departure to begin the nationwide process of healing the trauma left by this horrific assassination that took place in October 2017. This can also be achieved in the spirit of the Conference for National Unity that the President convened last February, as well as in the work of the Foundation for National Unity that will be launched in the coming weeks.
The President listened to all that was said during the Prime Minister and the Leader of the Opposition’s press conferences and feels that he should join them in expressing regret for all those factors that led to the assassination of journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia.