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| - Former Maltese prime minister Joseph Muscat was questioned by police Friday in an ongoing investigation into the 2017 murder of journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia, but denied he was a suspect. Emerging from Malta police headquarters in Floriana near the capital Valetta the former leader, who quit earlier this year over the car bomb blast that killed the 53-year-old Galizia, said he was not under investigation. "Whilst I am not at liberty to give details, I can say that practically all points raised today were already in the public domain, and I have already denied them publicly," Muscat said. "The police have confirmed to me that I am not under investigation in connection with this case," added Muscat, who quit in mid-January amid allegations that he hampered the murder investigation in an attempt to protect friends and allies. Three men suspected of placing the car bomb that killed Galizia are currently on trial in Valletta, while businessman Yorgen Fenech is accused of plotting the murder. Fenech was arrested in November along with Muscat's long-time chief-of-staff Keith Schembri, who was later released but remained under investigation. Caruana Galizia, a journalist and blogger described as a "one-woman WikiLeaks", exposed cronyism and sleaze within the country's political and business elite. Her murder and rocked the Mediterranean island nation. str/jhe/pvh
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