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]
23 Jul 20 | News and features
[vc_row][vc_column][vc_single_image image=”104009″ img_size=”full”][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]There are so many ways you can infringe on someone else’s free speech and obviously some examples are much more egregious than others. Some instances undermine the very premise of this most basic of human rights whilst others are so personal that they create a chilling effect on people’s ability to participate in their own national conversation.
This week, we’ve been able to witness everything on the spectrum from people being trolled for taking a stand against racism to Maria Ressa facing yet more legal action in the Philippines. There is also the awful case of one of the key witnesses in the Daphne Caruana Galizia murder trial being found with a slit throat on the morning they were due to give evidence.
Each of these issues demands their own platform, their own space to explore what is happening and what it means both for the individuals concerned and for the societies we live in, whether they be physical or virtual. Context and analysis are key; collectively we need to understand what each of these cases mean for our society and where they fit into the current debate on free speech.
Index was launched, nearly half a century ago, to be a voice for the persecuted, giving space to those people who could not be published elsewhere. We were also tasked with shining a spotlight on repressive regimes, exposing authoritarian attacks on free speech and celebrating those people who were brave enough to speak out. And just as importantly we were established to ensure that the UK remained a bastion of hope for those people who lived in societies which didn’t respect their core human rights. These three pillars remain at the core of what we do and who we are.
Index will always be a home for people who want to be heard. We will always stand against authoritarian and repressive regimes to protect our collective free speech. And we will stand against anyone who seeks to use their power to silence those less powerful. Our role is to expose, to listen and to stand with some of the bravest people in the world so that their voices can be heard. So that you can hear directly from them
To do this we need your help – please take a minute and, if you can, donate to Index so we can keep doing this vital work.[/vc_column_text][vc_btn title=”DONATE” color=”danger” size=”lg” link=”url:https%3A%2F%2Fwww.indexoncensorship.org%2Fdonate|||”][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][three_column_post title=”YOU MIGHT ALSO LIKE TO READ” category_id=”581″][/vc_column][/vc_row]
