Daphne Caruana Galizia, who was killed in a car bomb today, was named one of 28 individuals who would have a major impact on Europe in 2017 | Illustration by Denise Nestor for POLITICO Leading Maltese political journalist killed by car bomb Prime minister calls bombing ‘a spiteful attack on a citizen and freedom of expression.’

Daphne Caruana Galizia, a leading Maltese journalist who had reported extensively on government corruption, was killed in a car bombing Monday, according to TVM, the country's public broadcaster.

The explosion took place near her home in Bidnija at approximately 2:30 p.m., minutes after her last blog post was published.

Caruana Galizia, 53, had spent the last year publishing stories about allegations of corruption involving Prime Minister Joseph Muscat and his closest allies. The story first came to light in the Panama Papers scandal — a leak in April 2016 of more than 11 million documents from the Panama-based law firm Mossack Fonseca.

She subsequently published stories alleging that Muscat's wife, Michelle, received $1 million from the daughter of Azerbaijan’s president through a company set up by the same law firm.

In response to her death, Prime Minister Muscat, who has denied all allegations, made a statement saying: "Everyone knows Ms. Caruana Galizia was a harsh critic of mine, both politically and personally, but nobody can justify this barbaric act in any way ... I will not rest before justice is done."

Muscat also tweeted: "This is a spiteful attack on a citizen and freedom of expression."

Galizia — who was named by POLITICO as one of 28 individuals who would have a major impact on Europe in 2017 — was regularly accused by the ruling Labour Party of writing fake news. Her stories led to ministers, including Muscat, suing her for libel.

Adrian Delia, leader of the opposition Nationalist Party, described the event on Twitter as "the collapse of democracy and freedom of expression."

When POLITICO met her in the run-up to a snap election called by Muscat this year, she said if Labour won, she would be concerned for her safety and would consider leaving the country. According to TVM, she had reported having received death threats to the police.

"We are appalled by yet another killed journalist in Europe,” said Mogens Blicher Bjerregård, president of the European Federation of Journalists. “This killing and its circumstances must be swiftly and thoroughly investigated."

Joseph Daul, president of the pan-EU conservative European People’s Party, urged Maltese authorities "to launch an immediate investigation in order to shed light on this unspeakable act of violence and bring those responsible to justice.” That was echoed by Green MEP Sven Giegold, who said: "Such incidents bring to mind Putin’s Russia, not the European Union. There can be absolutely no tolerance for violence towards the press and freedom of expression in the European Union.”

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