Rosy Bindi, president of the Italian Anti-Mafia Commission, reproached Malta for not doing enough to combat organized crime and money laundering. This statement was made during a press conference following a two-day official visit of the Commission in Malta.

She appealed for more collaboration between the Italian and Maltese parliaments to strengthen their commitment to fight organized crime.

Rosy Bindi reaffirmed that the Maltese political economy has become too dependent on the financial sector thus attracting the Italian Mafia making the island an extended territory for their illegal dealings. “Criminals and Mafiosi exploit this political environment and use it to their advantage to fund criminal activity such as money laundering”.

The President of the Anti-Mafia Commission appealed to the Government of Malta to take concrete action to address the existent legal loopholes.

Bindi insisted that not only the police should intervene to combat this criminal activity, but also the professionals in the financial services sector.

During the press conference, she complained to the Maltese authorities for not publishing the names of the foreign citizens who purchased a Maltese passport. In 2014, the Government of Malta introduced an individual investment program allowing foreign citizens to obtain a Maltese passport for € 650,000.

The visit of the Anti-Mafia Commission that had been scheduled from September, took place one week after the assassination of Daphne Caruana Galizia.

Meanwhile, at noon, members of the European Parliament observed a minute of silence in honour of the assassinated journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia. In view of this brutal murder in Malta, the parliament discussed freedom of the press and the protection of the Maltese and European journalists.

Antonio Tajani, President of the European Parliament expressed his outrage at this assassination. “She was a brave woman. She had accomplished everything that is right for the profession. She searched for the truth, the real facts. She was not afraid to do all that was needed to fulfill her duty”.

Tajani said that the assassination of Caruana Galizia must not remain unpunished, and added; “I expect the authorities of Malta to do everything possible to solve this murder”.

He said that Daphne’s case should never be forgotten. In fact, the European Parliament decided to dedicate the Strasbourg press room to Daphne Caruana Galizia.

The assassinated journalist published over 20,000 articles denouncing abuse of power, corruption and organized crime.

(ITALPRESS/MNA).

Source: medNews