Socialist MEP Ana Gomes has asked the police commissioner Lawrence Cutajar to widen the investigations into the murder of Daphne Caruana Galizia and investigate “well-known political figures” who wanted to silence the journalist.

In a YouTube video, Gomes said that 10 days before her assassination, Caruana Galizia told the Council of Europe of the “threats she had been receiving and experiencing, the intimidation she faced from members of government, members of parliament, the police and political party donors.”

Urging the Maltese police to preserve and use the recorded interview Caruana Galizia had with the Council of Europe on 10 October 2017, Gomes said this should be considered as a lead in the investigations.

The MEP who led the European Parliament delegation investigating the Panama Papers and rule of law in Malta said she and her colleagues will continue their investigations and work to seek justice.

“We in the European Parliament are continuing our own inquiry into the murder of Caruana Galizia in other related aspects relevant for our assessment of the rule of law in Malta,” she said.

In the days following the assassination, the outspoken MEP had said that Europol should be involved in the investigations because there is too much political interference in the way the police and the judiciary operate in Malta. 

“The truth is that nobody can have much faith in the local authorities. As we could see in the Panama Papers investigation, it was clear that the police and financial authorities were muzzled, and therefore since there cannot be confidence in the local authorities – the police and the judiciary – because of the way they have been subdued by the political powers, it is essential for the credibility of the investigation that there be international assistance,” she had told The Malta Independent.