Daphne Caruana Galizia: Newspaper of 'murdered' investigative journalist publishes stark front-page tribute

The newspaper for which Daphne Caruana Galizia wrote a weekly column has published a stark tribute to the investigative journalist days after she was killed by a car bomb.

The prominent reporter, who played a major role in the Panama Papers case, had written a weekly article for The Malta Independent every Thursday for the last 20 years.

On the first Thursday after her death, the paper published an empty page in her memory, marked with a single black ribbon in the centre and a pledge to continue her legacy.

"Your pen has been silenced but your voice will live on," the tribute reads.

Ms Galizia was described as a “one-woman Wikileaks” by Politico and her blog sometimes achieved a larger readership than all the other newspapers in Malta combined.

Her in-depth reporting made her many enemies, including the Prime Minister, opposition politicians and members of the judiciary.

Prime Minister Joseph Muscat, while acknowledging Ms Galizia as one of his “harshest critics on a political and personal level", denounced the "barbaric attack" as "unacceptable".

Opposition leader Adrian Delia described her death as a “political murder”.

Ms Galizia is believed to have just published the last post on her widely read blog, Running Commentary, before leaving her house in Mosta - a town outside the capital Valletta - when she was killed.

"There are crooks everywhere you look now,” she had written, “the situation is desperate."

Soon after driving away in her Peugeot 108, Ms Galizia’s vehicle exploded with such force it was sent flying over a wall and into a field.

She had reported death threats against her to the police just over two weeks ago, according to local media.