16 Oct 21 | Legal action against journalists, Malta, Media Freedom, News and features, Slapps
[vc_row][vc_column][vc_single_image image=”117699″ img_size=”full” add_caption=”yes” alignment=”center”][vc_column_text]The following remarks were made by Caoilfhionn Gallagher, QC of Doughty Street Chambers, a member of the international legal team for the family of Daphne Caruana Galizia at a vigil on Friday 15 October 2021 at the Maltese High Commission to mark the fourth anniversary of Daphne’s assassination.
“We gather today in London to pay tribute to Daphne Caruana Galizia and honour her memory, and to stand in solidarity with her bereaved family in Malta. On this, the fourth anniversary of her assassination, I wish to say four things.
“First, it is now ten weeks since the independent public inquiry in Malta published its detailed 437-page report, finding that the Maltese State should shoulder responsibility for her death. The damning report concluded that a culture of impunity was created from the highest echelons of power within the Castille. Former Prime Minister Joseph Muscat was singled out and identified as enabling this culture of impunity, and his entire cabinet was found to be collectively responsible for their inaction in the lead up to the assassination.
“The State, the report held, ‘created an atmosphere of impunity, generated from the highest echelons of the administration inside Castille, the tentacles of which then spread to other institutions, such as the police and regulatory authorities, leading to a collapse in the rule of law.’ The report laid bare endemic corruption and fundamental structural failures, the very subjects of Daphne’s reporting.
“The Government created a ‘favourable climate’ for anyone seeking to eliminate Daphne to do so with the minimum of consequences, giving a green light to her being treated as a target. The State also failed to recognise the real and immediate risks to Daphne’s life, and failed to take reasonable steps to avoid those risks. And a myriad of other systemic failings were identified which failed Daphne, failed her family, failed journalists, and failed the Maltese people.
“And yet, 10 weeks on, we remain without a meaningful response to that report by the Maltese Government. The Government has not even released an English translation of the 437-page report – what translations you have heard or read have been provided by the bereaved family and their lawyers, not the State. Even this basic step, to commit to transparency and enable the international community to understand what happened and hold Malta to account, has not been taken.
“Second, it is now four years since Daphne was brutally murdered, in an assassination which sent shockwaves across Europe. Daphne was a brilliant, brave, dogged investigative journalist, who honed her craft over decades, often sitting at her kitchen table where she spent her last few hours with her son Matthew.
“She was isolated in those final months and years, facing multiple oppressive law suits, threats of financial ruin, abuse on the street and online, dehumanising and misogynistic images circulating. And yet, there has still been no unequivocal acceptance of the horrors that she faced, let alone an unequivocal apology for it, from Malta.
“Third, I ask what should Malta now do? Daphne’s assassination followed decades of abuse. It occurred within a climate of impunity and negative rhetoric directed against Daphne and other journalists in Malta. Today, her family calls upon the Government of Malta to unequivocally condemn the climate of impunity and negative rhetoric identified by the public inquiry, which dehumanised her and fuelled her murder.
“There must be root and branch political and legislative reform.
“And above all, Daphne’s family must have meaningful involvement in what comes next. The family counts on the Prime Minister to consult with them and civil society on the foundational principles for the independent committee of experts due to be appointed following the inquiry report, and on Terms of Reference to implement those principles. This consultation process is an essential first step before the proposed roles of committee members are formulated.
“Fourth, I ask what should the international community now do? It is fitting that we are standing here in central London. Many of those threatening legal letters which bombarded Daphne in the final months and years of her life came from London law firms. Whilst that climate of impunity festered in Malta, the world stood idly by. The UK and other countries across Europe ignored what was happening under their noses, and left Daphne to her fate.
“On 6 October 2017, weeks before her death, Daphne wrote on her blog, ‘in journalism, as in many areas in life, you sometimes find the back-up you need a little too late.’ Well, one week ago the Nobel Peace Prize was awarded to two investigative journalists, one of whom, Maria Ressa, I am honoured to represent. The Norwegian Nobel Committee recognised their efforts to safeguard freedom of expression, ‘a precondition for democracy and lasting peace.’
“The awarding of the Nobel Peace Prize to journalists is a welcome recognition of the bravery of journalists doing what Daphne Caruana Galizia did so brilliantly – holding the powerful and the corrupt to account. This is important back-up from the international community, albeit far too late for Daphne. In the decades leading up to her assassination, the world failed to act. They failed to act in 2017. Four years on, it is long past time for other States who clam to believe in the importance of freedom of expression – the UK, Council of Europe Member States, EU Member States, every single country which has signed up to the Media Freedom Coalition – to act. They failed Daphne then. Now, they must hold Malta to account and ensure the change Daphne’s family and Malta need and deserve comes to pass.”
The vigil for Daphne was co-sponsored by the Maltese community in London, ARTICLE 19, the Association of European Journalists, the Commonwealth Journalists Association, Index on Censorship, PEN International, Reporters Without Borders, and Transparency International-UK.
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25 Feb 21 | Malta, News and features
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Daphne Caruana Galizia
A change of plea to guilty in a Maltese court this week by a man accused of being one of three hitmen who murdered investigative reporter Daphne Caruana Galizia in 2017 has brought hopes that her family may be one step closer to getting both answers about her assassination and justice.
On 16 October 2017, Caruana Galizia was assassinated by the triggering of an explosive device planted under her car seat outside her home in Bidnija, Malta. Her body was found by her son Matthew who said at the time, “I looked down and there were my mother’s body parts all around me”.
Caruana Galizia had been active for over thirty years as a journalist in the country and broke many exclusive stories around corruption on her Running Commentary blog, which remains on the web today as a testament to her tireless work.
Her work exposed corruption among politicians and business people in the country and their links with criminals outside the country’s borders which made her a target.
At the time of her death, Caruana Galizia had more than 40 lawsuits pending against her, which her son Matthew said were like a “never-ending type of torture” to his mother and which her sister, Corinne Vella, told Index the family were still facing even after her murder.
Since her death, there has been a renewed focus on Slapps (strategic lawsuits against public particiption) in Europe, in which Index on Censorship is playing a key role.
On Tuesday, Vincent Muscat, also known as Il Koħħu, changed his plea to guilty as he faced Judge Edwina Grima. Muscat, who had been accused of being one of the three hitmen who had conspired to kill Caruana Galizia, had asked for a presidential pardon two years ago but is now understood to have reached a deal with prosecutors to provide information about the murder.
Malta’s Newsbook has this week published details of the pardon, which required him to reveal the full story from being contracted to the murder itself, the identities of who planned the murder and who actually carried it out.
Muscat has now been given a 15-year sentence but has already spent three years in jail and could be out in seven years with remission.
The case against the other two alleged hitmen – brothers George and Alfred Degiorgio, known as “Ic-Ciniz” or the Chinese, and “Il-Fulu”, the Bean – will continue as a separate case.
The family’s lawyer, Jason Azzopardi, made a statement to the court following Muscat’s change of plea.
“A person who has admitted his involvement in the murder of Daphne Caruana Galizia has denied her her right to life and has denied her her right to enjoy her family, including her grandchildren who were born after she was killed,” the lawyer said.
“The macabre murder of Daphne Caruana Galizia was intentional and should have been prevented. The victim has paid with her life and her family is suffering the loss of their loved one.
“I have said all this because if Daphne Caruana Galizia’s family were to respond to this admission on the basis of emotion alone, it is obvious what their response would be.
“However, in the circumstances, and given that they were informed by the Attorney General about the process in this case, the family expresses the hope that this step will begin to lead to full justice for Daphne Caruana Galizia.”
On Wednesday, the day after the plea change, two men – Robert Agius, and Jamie Vella – were arrested on suspicion of supplying the bomb and complicity in the murder of Caruana Galizia, based on information believed to have been provided by Muscat as part of his pardon.
Malta’s prime minister Robert Abela said that the charges meant that there is evidence of the “rule of law in Malta”. However, Abela would not rule out political involvement in the journalist’s murder.
Bernard Grech, leader of the opposition Maltese Nationalist party, said of the news: “Had our institutions not been hijacked by those seeking to protect themselves, Daphne Caruana Galizia would still be alive. We have gotten to this point thanks to the perseverance of those who persisted in pursuing justice no matter what.”
Reacting to Abela’s comments, Daphne’s son Andrew said, ”To move forward a country first needs to publicly acknowledge its failures. There is no shame in this. Only the promise of hope that we could one day be a better country. We’ve sacrificed too much to be robbed of this opportunity.”
- Index spoke to Daphne Caruana Galizia’s sister Corinne Vella in October about their childhood and Daphne’s desire to be a writer
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27 Nov 20 | Opinion, Ruth's blog
[vc_row][vc_column][vc_single_image image=”115674″ img_size=”full” add_caption=”yes”][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]This week marked the launch of a sixteen-day UN campaign to eliminate gender-based violence. As part of the global solidarity movement they want to turn the world orange. In the 21st century this campaign should not be necessary, but we see daily examples across the world of how women are being singled out for violence, whether state-sanctioned or by non-state actors or even in people’s homes.
When someone talks about violence towards women it is easy to assume they are talking about domestic violence, after all across the world 243 million women and girls were abused by an intimate partner last year.
Closer to home there were over 200,000 incidents of domestic abuse logged by the police in 2019/20 in England and Wales alone. My friend Jess Phillips, the MP for Birmingham Yardley, every year on International Women’s Day, reads the names of those women who have been murdered in the UK by their partner – this year she read out 108 names.
Jess uses her voice for the women who no longer have one.
But violence against women isn’t only an issue of domestic violence. We’ve seen too many examples where violence against women, whether threats or actual violence, is used as a tool to try and silence them, to ensure that their voices aren’t heard.
Last month a survey published by Plan International found that 59% of women interviewed had been subjected to some form of abuse online. These statistics alone are enough to bring about a chilling effect for women who want to participate in public discourse but it’s compounded when you consider some of the highest profile academics, campaigners and journalists who have been murdered, imprisoned or threatened in recent years:
- Kylie Moore-Gilbert, accused of espionage by the Iranian regime and finally released this week after two years in prison;
- Loujain al-Hathloul, a women’s rights activist in Saudi Arabia who has been imprisoned for the last two years.
- Maria Ressa, the investigative journalist from Rappler, hit with fines and criminal charges for her work;
- Daphne Caruana Galizia, a campaigning Maltese journalist assassinated on 16 October 2017;
- Berta Cáceres, a leading Honduran environmental activist murdered in her home on 2 March 2016.
These women represent untold others, whose stories we simply don’t know – yet. That in itself is heart-breaking.
Our job at Index is to keep shining a spotlight on what is happening across the world, to make sure that as many people’s stories as possible are told. To empower them, to fight with them and to support their families. To make sure that no one is silenced because of the fear of violence.
We were launched nearly 50 years ago – but there is still so much work to do.
For more information on Orange the World see https://www.unwomen.org/en/news/in-focus/end-violence-against-women[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][three_column_post title=”You may also want to read” category_id=”41669″][/vc_column][/vc_row]
12 Oct 20 | News and features
[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]Maltese investigative journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia was killed in a car bomb on 16 October 2017.
Before she died, she had made public stories about corruption, money laundering and Malta’s links with organised crime. Since her death, her family have worked to bring her killers to justice. As the third anniversary of her death approaches, Index on Censorship’s associate editor Mark Frary talks to her sister Corinne Vella.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_video link=”https://youtu.be/9ItiNyGkXFg”][/vc_column][/vc_row]
