[vc_row][vc_column][vc_single_image image=”107234″ img_size=”full”][vc_column_text]EU leaders from Cyprus, France, Greece, Italy, Portugal, and Spain are urged to address the ongoing impunity in the case of assassinated journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia
To: Mr Emmanuel Macron, President of France; Mr Giuseppe Conte, Prime Minister of Italy; Mr Nicos Anastasiades, President of Cyprus; Mr Alexis Tsipras, Prime Minister of Greece; Mr António Costa, Prime Minister of Portugal; and Mr Pedro Sánchez, Prime Minister of Spain.
13 June 2019
Your excellencies,
Journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia was assassinated in Malta by a car bomb on 16 October 2017. There is no process inquiring into the circumstances of the murder. We, the undersigned organisations, haveadvocated extensively for justice in the case and are closely monitoring the process on the ground.
Areport on the assassination, titled “Daphne Caruana Galizia’s assassination and the rule of law, in Malta and beyond: ensuring that the whole truth emerges”, by the Special Rapporteur of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE), Pieter Omtzigt, was adopted by the Legal Affairs and Human Rights Committee meeting in Paris on 29 May 2019.
The report highlights a series of concerns relating to theinvestigation into the murder of Daphne Caruana Galizia, and Malta is requested to establish an independent and impartial public inquiry within three months to determine whether the state could have prevented the assassination – a call we have made repeatedly. The Committee noted fundamental weaknesses in Malta’s system of democratic checks and balances, seriously undermining the rule of law. This is an alarming situation, particularly in a Council of Europe and European Union member state. The Maltese authorities are called upon to take steps to end the prevailing climate of impunity.
So far, the Maltese government has blocked a public inquiry, leaving journalists continuing to work in Malta at great risk and forcing Galizia’s family to litigate the Prime Minister’s refusal to hold a public inquiry into the assassination. Only a public inquiry can determine how best to guarantee the safety of journalists and prevent future attacks. TheVenice Commission Opinion on Malta states Malta’s positive obligations in relation to the assassination of Daphne Caruana Galizia. A public inquiry is the only process that can effectively address these positive obligations. The call for a public inquiry is supported by a resolution by the European Parliament which requests the Maltese government to launch a public inquiry, and calls on the EU institutions and the Member States to initiate an independent international public inquiry into the murder and the alleged cases of corruption, financial crimes, money laundering, fraud and tax evasion reported by the journalist.
By signing the Sibiu Declaration, you have pledged to safeguard Europe’s democratic values and the rule of law. We therefore urge you to address the matter of safety of journalists and ongoing impunity in the case of Daphne Caruana Galizia in your meeting with Prime Minister Muscat in Valletta on 14 June.
Thank you for your attention.
Kind regards,
Dr Lutz Kinkel, Managing Director, European Centre for Press and Media Freedom (ECPMF)
Sarah Clarke, Head of Europe and Central Asia, ARTICLE 19
Joy Hyvarinen, Head of Advocacy, Index on Censorship
Ravi R. Prasad, Director of Advocacy, International Press Institute (IPI)
Carles Torner, Executive Director, PEN International
Rebecca Vincent, UK Bureau Director, Reporters Without Borders (RSF)[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_basic_grid post_type=”post” max_items=”4″ element_width=”6″ grid_id=”vc_gid:1560437482746-8cffafe9-48c7-1″ taxonomies=”8996″][/vc_column][/vc_row]
Seven international press freedom and human rights organisations have called on EU leaders from France, Greece, Italy, Portugal, Cyprus and Spain currently in Malta for the South EU Summit to “address the ongoing impunity in the case of assassinated journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia”. Read in full.
“Burned in effigy. Insulted. Menaced. Spat at. Discredited by their nation’s leaders. Assaulted. Sued. Homes strafed with automatic weapons. Rape threats. Death threats. Assassinations.” This is the landscape faced by journalists throughout Europe over the last four years, according to the report ‘Demonising the Media’ released by the Mapping Media Freedom project. Read the full article.
“It’s going up against a lot of people who would rather the investigation doesn’t go as far it should,” Paul Caruana Galizia, son of Maltese investigative journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia, said about the ongoing inquiry into her murder ahead of the one-year anniversary of her killing.
“If it is allowed to be run completely without constraints and completely without political inference, then the implications for Malta are quite big. It would be an investigation that really shakes the country up, shakes up its establishment, shakes up the way institutions work.”
Paul talked to Index about the implications of his mother’s murder in Malta on 16 October 2017. He believes freedom of expression in the country is in a “critical” state. He said: “Now that she’s been killed it sends a shocking, dramatic signal to everyone else may be thinking about reporting on these issues. It’s become a bigger problem than it ever was.”
When his mother was assassinated with a car bomb last year, the case received worldwide attention. The anti-corruption journalist, who began her career in 1988, was dubbed “the only ethical voice left” by fellow Maltese blogger Manuel Delia. Her death has left a noticeable hole in the media landscape of Malta, not just in terms of journalism but in the ongoing fight for freedom of expression — a battle that she waged for thirty years, says Paul.
“No matter how many people told her she was wrong, and she should just keep quiet, or she should just stop causing a scene; no matter the misogyny she suffered, the online abuse, physical harassment, or investigations into her private account — she just kept writing,” said Paul. “To be that person you have to have a really strong confidence in yourself and ability in your understanding of what you’re covering. She was really a force and unlike anyone I will meet again.”
Paul spoke with great passion about his mother and her work, after a year when he and his brothers struggled to keep public attention on the case. He was advised to leave Malta immediately after his mother’s funeral and a guard now stands outside his family home 24 hours a day because of threats.
“It’s a very personal thing what motivates a journalist to carry on writing in the face of all those threats and violence,” said Paul, “for my mother it was that you can’t just leave things alone, you can’t let injustice carry on, you can’t, in her words, just let people get away with it.” And Daphne certainly didn’t let people get away with it. She exposed numerous Maltese politicians linked to the Panama Papers scandal in 2016. Corrupt officials weren’t her only targets, with one of her reports revealing a link between Malta’s online gambling industry and organised crime. She also covered stories involving police officers, including deputy police commissioner Silvio Valletta, who was allowed to take part in the investigation into her death.
Valletta’s wife Justyne Caruana, a government minister, was also the subject of criticism by Daphne, which is why Paul and his family pushed for Valetta’s dismissal from the case. Malta’scourt of appeal has ruled that Valletta must desist from taking part in the investigation. The governmentsaid it will appeal the decision, something Paul calls “astonishing”.
Maltese MP Chris Said introduced a private member’s bill in parliament calling for a board of inquiry to follow up on investigations Daphne was pursuing before her death back in October 2017. However, Paul and his family were shocked to find “every single MP in parliament” not only voted down this motion but proposed amendments which replaced the inquiry with words of praise for Prime Minister Joseph Muscat and the police force.
“There’s a more important question as far as we are concerned, and it’s whether my mother’s life could have been saved — whether there was anything the state could have done to protect her life.”[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_basic_grid post_type=”post” max_items=”4″ element_width=”6″ grid_id=”vc_gid:1539182143626-ac83defd-654a-0″ taxonomies=”18781, 18782″][/vc_column][/vc_row]
