Representatives for the family of Daphne Caruana Galizia have handed over two laptops and three hard drives used by the assassinated journalist to the German federal police (BKA), the Daphne Project has confirmed.

Responding to questions by German newspaper Süddeutsche Zeitung, the BKA said the laptops and hard drives had been handed over by “family representatives” on 27th April.

Last month, Caruana Galizia’s sister Corinne Vella confirmed the family refused to hand over the laptop the journalist used to write on due to a lack of trust in the Maltese police.

“Daphne would never have wanted her laptop to be given to the authorities,” Vella said. “She would always hide her laptop before going out. It was about protecting her sources. And she died protecting her sources. She knew that whatever information the police got hold of would go straight to the same people in government she was investigating.”

Caruana Galizia’s son Matthew said he would burn his mother’s laptop in front of the police if he knew were it was and challenged the police to seize the private email server of Prime Minister Joseph Muscat, which he said could have been used to plot his mother’s murder.

Government officials, including Muscat’s communications aides Glenn Bedingfield and Josef Caruana, accused the Caruana Galizia family of obstructing justice by refusing to hand over the laptop to the police and the latter even stirred a rumour that the family had been behind the murder.

Banners demanding the family give up the laptop had also popped up around Malta, although the government insisted it had nothing to do with them.