Malta

“Malta has clear legal obligations to ensure an independent, impartial investigation into the assassination of its leading journalist, Daphne Caruana Galizia. There must be no executive interference in the investigation.”

Businessman Yorgen Fenech was arrested on 20 November while he was apparently trying to leave Malta on a yacht; he was later released on bail. After the arrest, protesters demanded the resignation of Prime Minister Joseph Muscat.

Following international criticism, the Maltese Government has announced that it will update terms of reference and the composition of the Board of Inquiry into the circumstances surrounding the murder.

Two years on from her murder in Malta, there has been no justice for Daphne Caruana Galizia; this lack of progress has shed light on broader systemic failings with regard to Malta’s press freedom climate, rule of law, and democratic checks and balances.

The Prime Minister of Malta has been given a deadline of 26 September 2019 by the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) to establish an independent and effective public inquiry into whether Daphne Caruana Galizia’s life could have been saved.

Malta should immediately implement an independent, public inquiry into Daphne Caruana Galizia’s assasination.

Ahead of a meeting of the Legal Affairs and Human Rights Committee of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) in Paris, a number of organisations sent this open letter to the Maltese PACE members.

Nine international freedom of expression, press freedom, and professional journalists’ organisations condemn the lack of progress in the case of the investigative journalist.

An October mission comprising IFEX members and other rights groups found that Malta was failing in its obligations to safeguard freedom of expression and called for a public inquiry into Daphne Caruana Galizia’s murder

The public inquiry must be completely independent of the Maltese police, government and politicians, and it should be conducted by a panel of respected international judges with no political or government links.

Andrew Caruana Galizia, son of journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia, spoke about the situation of violence against women journalists in the context of a session with the UN Special Rapporteur on Violence against Women at the UN Human Rights Council 38th Special Session.

Six months after Caruana Galizia was murdered, those who ordered the killing remain unidentified; members of the establishment continue to sue her for libel; some ridicule her memory.

There are dozens of libel cases ongoing against the murdered journalist, including one brought by Prime Minister Joseph Muscat, two by the Minister for Tourism, and another two brought by the Prime Minister’s Chief of Staff.

The misuse of defamation law to silence journalists remains a problem in Malta, even as the Maltese government is currently discussing a new bill to repeal the country’s criminal libel law.

Caruana Galizia’s family has issued a statement expressing concern about irregularities in the investigation and the fact that “a number of people who could be implicated continue to receive political cover for crimes they are widely reported to have committed.”

The killing of Maltese investigative journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia in a car bomb has sparked shock and outrage across Europe.