On the eve of the seventh anniversary of the murder of Maltese journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia on 16 October 2017, the European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) and 10 other journalist and freedom of expression organizations wrote to Malta’s Prime Minister Robert Abela calling on his government to speed up reforms to create a safer environment for the media community in Malta.
The groups called on Abela, after years of delay, to finally deliver on the recommendations of a public inquiry into her murder, which concluded in 2021 that the state had created an “atmosphere of impunity” and failed to take reasonable steps to protect her.
Read the full letter here:
Dear Prime Minister Abela,
We, the undersigned organisations, are writing in advance of the anniversary of the murder of Daphne Caruana Galizia to strongly urge you to recommit to creating an enabling environment for the Maltese journalist community.
Our organisations welcomed the move by the Maltese authorities to set up a separate public inquiry in 2019, following pressure from the Caruana Galizia family, to independently examine the responsibility of the Maltese state in the murder of Daphne Caruana Galizia.
The public inquiry found, in its subsequent report published on 29 July 2021, that her assassination was both predictable and preventable, and pointed to the responsibility of the state for her death, a collapse in the rule of law and the failure of the authorities to take measures to protect her.
Your government then embarked on several reforms, including proposed legislation on journalist safety and strategic lawsuits against public participation (SLAPPs). However, our organisations have voiced concern that these legislative texts were not effectively open to scrutiny from media experts or did not meet international standards, rendering them potentially ineffective at protecting those journalists who need support in the future. We additionally note that the State has not taken any action on implementing many of the recommendations of the public inquiry.
In October 2022, our organisations welcomed the conviction of two hitmen and acknowledged that, so far, seven people have admitted to or were sentenced and charged with complicity in her killing and that criminal proceedings are underway against three of the suspects. We continue to closely follow the legal proceedings against the alleged mastermind of the killing and of the alleged bomb suppliers.
The judicial closure of the case by the Maltese authorities, in tandem with the State’s positive obligations to improve the space for Maltese journalists, will have a wider resonance in Europe, including with press freedom groups, and the institutions of the European Union and the Council of Europe.
The Daphne Caruana Galizia Foundation has repeatedly denounced the ways in which the failure by the Maltese authorities to address the corruption and abuse of power that Daphne, and other Maltese journalists, investigated and continue to investigate, still contributes to an environment of insecurity and uncertainty for journalists.
To mark the anniversary of Daphne Caruana Galizia’s murder, we hope that you can recommit to fully implementing the recommendations from the public inquiry and guarantee that pending legislative measures will at minimum meet international standards, and that reforms will be conducted transparently and with the technical assistance of international media experts and the full participation of civil society.
Signed:
- ARTICLE 19 Europe
- European Federation of Journalists (EFJ)
- Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ)
- European Centre for Press and Media Freedom (ECPMF)
- International Press Institute (IPI)
- Media Diversity Institute
- OBC Transeuropa (OBCT)
- PEN International
- Reporters Without Borders (RSF)
- Society of Journalists, Warsaw
- Transparency International EU
