VALLETTA, MALTA — Three suspects were formally charged this week in the 2017 slaying of Maltese anti-corruption journalist and blogger Daphne Caruana Galizia.



Brothers Alfred and George Degiorgio and Vince Muscat, all in their 50s, were arrested in December 2017. The Justice Ministry's confirmation of the charges, which allows a trial to be held, came Tuesday, days before a 20-month deadline.



The public prosecutor now has another 20 months to set a date for the trial, which legal experts said might not take place for years.



Late last week, the government of Prime Minister Joseph Muscat, at the recommendation of the Council of Europe, said it would create a public commission of inquiry within two months that would investigate whether the Oct. 16, 2017, attack could have been prevented.



Caruana Galizia, described as a "one-woman WikiLeaks," was responsible for a number of corruption exposes targeting both Muscat and opposition figures.



In the wake of the killing, Malta asked American and Dutch experts to help in the probe.



After her death, her sons demanded Muscat's resignation, accusing him of surrounding himself with crooks, creating a culture of impunity and turning the tiny Mediterranean state into a "mafia island.”