Rule of law NGO Repubblika has strongly condemned Culture Minister Malcolm Paul Agius Galea after he suggested it remains unclear whether Daphne Caruana Galizia was murdered because of her work as a journalist.“This is omertà,” Repubblika said in a scathing statement issued following the minister’s comments today.“This is complicity with the culture that protects organised crime. This is turning a blind eye to the truth, literally before our eyes.” View this post on Instagram A post shared by Lovin Malta (@lovinmalta)Earlier today, Agius Galea was questioned outside Parliament over whether journalists in Malta were less safe following Yorgen Fenech’s acquittal.The minister said he did not believe they were.When a journalist stated that Caruana Galizia had been killed because of her work, Agius Galea responded: “But that’s what you’re saying.”He went on to compare the situation to a hypothetical case involving the murder of a doctor, arguing that he would not necessarily know whether that person had been killed specifically because they were a doctor.“Likewise, I don’t know exactly what happened and what didn’t happen,” Agius Galea said, stressing the need for “caution” while matters surrounding the case remain ongoing.Repubblika has now hit back, pointing towards the findings of the independent public inquiry into Caruana Galizia’s 2017 assassination.“The independent Public Inquiry established that all the evidence pointed to Daphne Caruana Galizia’s assassination being a direct consequence of her investigative work into corruption, abuse of power, and the links between politics and business,” the NGO said.“A government minister cannot pretend these facts do not exist.”Repubblika argued that Malta cannot begin addressing the problems it faces if the government ministers responsible for tackling them “deny that they exist”.It described Agius Galea’s comments as an “outrage to democracy” and called on the government to immediately withdraw them.The NGO also demanded that the government unequivocally reaffirm what it says the Maltese State has already acknowledged: “Daphne Caruana Galizia was a journalist assassinated because of her work.”The controversy comes as Malta grapples with the fallout from Fenech’s acquittal, with Parliament being urgently reconvened today to debate the verdict and its repercussions.What do you make of Repubblika’s reaction?•