UPDATED: Activists storm into Maltese PM’s office building in Valletta

Activists barged into the building that houses the office of Malta’s prime minister early on Monday to demand Joseph Muscat’s immediate resignation amid an investigation into the 2017 killing of journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia.

Activists ended their protest after a five-hour sit-in protest at one of the side-entrances of the Auberge de Castille.

The protesters, from the Graffitti group, barged into the building shortly after 7am and later also blocked access into Valletta from St Paul Street.

Muscat is not directly implicated in the investigation but has said he will resign in mid-January after an election for a new leader of his ruling Labour Party. Testimony by the self-confessed middleman in the murder plan has linked people in the prime minister’s inner circle to attempts at a cover-up.

About 40 activists surprised policemen and soldiers as they forced their way into the 16th century building in the capital Valletta from a side entrance, armed with drums, whistles, flags and loud hailers.

They then sat down and blocked the entrance, chanting for Muscat to quit. He was not in the building at the time.

Via Reuters