Malta activists urge Greece to grant asylum to whistleblower

Anti-corruption activists in Malta said on Tuesday they had written to Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras urging him to grant asylum to a Russian woman who blew the whistle on alleged wrongdoing at Malta-based Pilatus Bank.

The woman, Maria Efimova, fled Malta after the car-bomb murder of investigative journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia, who had identified her as one of her sources.

She is wanted by the Maltese courts to face charges of misappropriation of 2,000 euros ($2,480) by her former employers. Efimova says she had permission to use the money.

Earlier this month she turned herself in to police in Athens.

Galizia, partly using information from Efimova, had asserted that the Maltese prime minister's wife was the ultimate beneficiary of funds in a secret company in Panama, including funds from Azerbaijan transferred through Pilatus Bank.

The prime...