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| - Almost three years after the brutal murder of investigative reporter Daphne Caruana Galizia, journalists in Malta are still at risk, the editor-in-chief of Reporters Without Borders said Friday. "Journalists in Malta are still scared," Pauline Ades-Mevel told AFP, after giving testimony at a public inquiry into the murder. "We are talking about a country in the EU. This is not normal. There is a new prime minister in power, but the big hopes we had of change have fallen flat, the situation has not improved significantly," she said. "There is a strong anti-media rhetoric. The government needs to send a clear message that journalists should be protected and respected." Caruana Galizia, a journalist and blogger described as a "one-woman WikiLeaks", exposed cronyism and sleaze within the country's political and business elite. She was blown up in a car bomb in 2017, aged 53. "The reason why I am here, is that we don't want another journalist to be killed," Ades-Mevel told the court. She was speaking three days after the alleged suicide bid by the self-confessed middleman in the murder, taxi driver Melvin Theuma. While police said the wounds to Theuma's vocal chords, wrists and abdomen appeared to be self-inflicted, rights groups have questioned the timing of an incident which came just hours before he was due to give evidence in court. "The few journalists still reporting on the riskiest topics remain at great risk," the head of Reporters Without Borders UK, Rebecca Vincent, who has followed the case closely, said on Twitter. "And now many in Malta -- including journalists and activists -- are feeling even more shaken by this week's disturbing developments with Melvin Theuma. They need support," she said. Three men suspected of placing the car bomb that killed Caruana Galizia are currently on trial in Valletta. ide/er
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