Public inquiry into Daphne Caruana Galizia murder hears Reporters Without Borders chief editor

11:16 That is all for today. Thank you for following. Karl Azzopardi

11:15 Nationalist European Parliament Member David Casa will be testifying today week. Karl Azzopardi

11:14 Foreign Minister Evarist Bartolo will be testifying next week at 9:30 am. Karl Azzopardi

11:13 Azzopardi has no further questions. Witness steps off the stand. Karl Azzopardi

11:13 Pauline Adès-Méve says that Matteo Salvini had used his private email when he was trying to revoke Roberto Saviano's protection, in a reply to a question about the use of the PM's private email to attack journalists. Karl Azzopardi

11:10 "That is unheard of," Pauline Adès-Méve replies. Karl Azzopardi

11:10 Azzopardi presents a tweet by Economy Minister Silvio Schembri posted on 30 May 2017. In it Schembri shared a video and wrote that after the election they would get rid of Daphne Caruana Galizia and her son Matthew. Karl Azzopardi

11:09 "Salvini who happens to be the best friend of Joseph Muscat." Azzopardi remarks. Karl Azzopardi

11:08 "It does happen, because unfortunately the press situation has deteriorated,” she says. “Hungary, Poland and Italy at the time of Salvini.” Karl Azzopardi

11:07 “Have you ever encountered a situation where an official in the office of the prime minister who is also a member of parliament writes publicly to discredit journalists?” Azzopardi asks her. Karl Azzopardi

11:07 “How often have you encountered States trying to discredit journalists and civil society?” Azzopardi asks. Adès-Méve replies: Bulgaria, Serbia, Montenegro, Albania. Karl Azzopardi

11:06 “27 years,” Pauline Adès-Méve replies. Karl Azzopardi

11:05 “How long have you been a journalist?” he asks her. Karl Azzopardi

11:05 Lawyer Jason Azzopardi takes over the questioning. Karl Azzopardi

11:04 Pauline Adès-Méve: “The political interference into the murder investigation is clear, she said. I managed to meet the magistrate investigating the murder on my own six months after the murder but he was promoted directly after. I had to inform the police before the meeting. I was later told that I would not be allowed to meet his successor Neville Camilleri.” Karl Azzopardi

10:59 “A grant was obtained to look into what was happening here. The foreign organisation who provided the grant, will not be named,” she said. Rebecca Vincent wrote the report with the help of Caroline Muscat of the Shift. Karl Azzopardi

10:57 Therese Comodini Cachia asks Adès-Méve about her report ‘Justice delayed.’ Karl Azzopardi

10:57 “This is something we are used to, I have met with other heads of government...” Karl Azzopardi

10:56 It took her two or three months of trying to get a meeting with the PM Adès-Méve said. “Until the very last minute we didn’t know if we would be meeting with him.” Karl Azzopardi

10:55 “The feeling of impunity has an impact on other journalists. The rhetoric is formed in a way to despise journalists. What they say is nonsense,” she said. Karl Azzopardi

10:51 Pauline Adès-Méve: “From what I’ve heard the PM had always been extremely concerned, polite and interested in what we were asking, but he also seemed to be saying that the authorities were doing what they had to do.” Karl Azzopardi

10:50 “What was the reaction of the authorities?” There Comodini Cachia asks. Karl Azzopardi

10:49 “I met with the President, my colleague Rebecca Vincent met the PM, I met the Attorney General and she met the Economy minister. Our proposals were twofold. Firstly, to have an independent public inquiry into the murder with international observers. When my colleague met with the PM a year ago, the main demand was to obtain full justice in a transparent way.” Karl Azzopardi

10:48 "At MSF, we defend those we believe fit in our criteria. They don't insult people, they check sources, verify information.” Karl Azzopardi

10:47 “I did not mention bloggers because the notion is very large. We do not defend those who publish on Facebook and so on. We work with journalists whose context is journalistic,” Adès-Méve says. Karl Azzopardi

10:47 “How many independent journalists do you have on this island even though it is small? Not much. In Slovakia there are a lot.” Karl Azzopardi

10:45 “After her assassination, other journalists decided to take over by creating The Shift. It does not mean that you necessarily feel safe. It is courageous and needed.” Karl Azzopardi

10:44 “They were not able to report properly on this huge political crisis. Self-censorship is something common.” Karl Azzopardi

10:43 “Some journalists tell me that they are not able to write, especially after the murder. I remember some journalists being prevented from working on the political affairs just before Prime Minister Muscat left. Journalists were prevented from doing reports and cover stories.” Karl Azzopardi

10:42 Pauline Adès-Méve: “After the murder, we took part in the demonstration in October 2017. That was my first time in Malta, the streets were jam packed. State TV made no mention of the four-to-five-hour demonstration, just a mention of the fact that people had gathered to commemorate Daphne Caruana Galizia with a single photograph of the crowd.” Karl Azzopardi

10:40 "We study public TV around the world and we look at what it provides to the audience." Karl Azzopardi

10:39 She replies that she does not have this kind of detail, but that the legal team at RSF might know. Karl Azzopardi

10:39 Therese Comodini Cachia asks about SLAPP proceedings and if she is aware of the exchange of emails between the person proposing the SLAPP suit, then Justice Minister Owen Bonnici and then Prime Minister Joseph Muscat. Karl Azzopardi

10:37 “Also, journalists do not want to be followed by three cars of security personnel all the time,” she said. Karl Azzopardi

10:36 Answering a question from the board, Adès-Méve said that she is in contact with foreign countries to provide security for journalists at risk in those countries. “It works in Serbia, sometimes it isn’t enough, but sometimes the police want to please us and offer protection.” Karl Azzopardi

10:34 Pauline Adès-Méve: “The way she (Daphne Caruana Galizia) was attacked, treated and harassed was a sign for me that things would get worse and worse.” Karl Azzopardi

10:33 “Since the trial is not over and there is no judgment in this case…who is behind the perpetrators? It could also be a foreign country. As long as we don't know who had ordered this murder...RSF is committed to get justice for this case,” she says. Karl Azzopardi

10:30 “One of them in particular is more watched than the others,” she says. Karl Azzopardi

10:30 “There is also the fact that the journalists we meet here do not want to be seen with us. It's a small island and it gives indication that they do not feel safer than they were.” Karl Azzopardi

10:29 “Many believe that their phones are monitored, not one of them will communicate unless through encrypted networks. This feeling is reinforced now. In 2016, I was receiving emails on my normal work account. I would say that this is one sign that has changed. Also, the SLAPP procedures against Daphne, Matthew, Caroline Muscat and other journalists themselves. This is shocking. Journalists are under judicial pressure even when they are dead, so this is a sign.” Karl Azzopardi

10:27 Therese Comodini Cachia asks about the journalists who told her that they are in a bad situation. “Give examples without identifying.” Karl Azzopardi

10:26 “Tons of journalists are scared throughout the world, but we are in the EU and such things are not common, I can tell you.” Karl Azzopardi

10:25 “The SLAPP procedures, the pressure and the fact that even though there is this public inquiry, even though that people were caught outright, even the situation on the judiciary front, they're still scared.” Karl Azzopardi

10:23 “We have seen no change. So far, I haven't had any journalists telling me that the situation has improved,” Adès-Mével says. Karl Azzopardi

10:22 On Melvin Theuma's suicide attempt: "Where in the EU do you see a situation where a witness finds himself in the situation he is in. It is obscene." Karl Azzopardi

10:17 What happened here is that after a journalist was blown up, the attacks on journalists continued unabated, she said Karl Azzopardi

10:15 Joseph Muscat had continued to target journalists, she said. In Slovakia, the Prime Minister was calling journalists prostitutes for reporting on EU funds not being distributed correctly. He was forced from office and Mr. Pellegrini took over. The pressures are not gone but are less visible. Karl Azzopardi

10:14 Those reporting to us about the situation here are those work for the Maltese media, and those who travel from abroad to Malta to report about the situation. The fact that to date those who speak to us don't want to be named is telling, she said. In Slovakia, they are named. Karl Azzopardi

10:12 She draws parallels with Jan Kuciak case, saying that RSF had done huge work in Slovakia. "Yesterday the prosecutor requested 25 years imprisonment for the mastermind." Karl Azzopardi

10:10 Pauline Adès-Méve: "My view is that journalists are still at risk and the reason why I am here is that we don't want another journalist to be killed here." Karl Azzopardi

10:09 RSF sends questionnaires from September to January, so no new questionnaires have been sent since the new PM was appointed, she tells the court. Karl Azzopardi

10:09 Legislative framework and media ownership are also factors which are considered. Karl Azzopardi

10:08 "We evaluate based on seven indicators...we pool the responses of experts on the ground. We combine quantitative data on acts of violence, media independence, media environment, self-censorship and quality of infrastructure,” Adès-Méve tells him. Karl Azzopardi

10:07 Judge Said Pullicino asks what criteria influence the ranking. Karl Azzopardi

10:06 "There was some hope in November. Now it seems the situation has not improved enough." Karl Azzopardi

10:06 “There was a lot of hope when the Prime Minister changed. But it seems that this oath is not followed with any concrete measures. People are still scared. Journalists are still at risk,” Adès-Méve tells the judges. Karl Azzopardi

10:05 The polarisation of the media is one of the factors in this, she said. Karl Azzopardi

10:05 “She was not assassinated a second time but the country continued to slide in the rankings.” Karl Azzopardi

10:04 “Malta was ranked 47 the year she was assassinated. In 2018, it went to number 65.” Karl Azzopardi

10:04 Pauline Adès-Méve: “At the time, Poland was considered as an exemplary country where press freedom was deteriorating. I travelled there a lot, but I said that there are other countries like Malta and Cyprus where the European Union was not looking closely at what was happening on the ground.” Karl Azzopardi

10:02 She had written to Daphne Caruana Galizia, but had not received a reply so she had contacted Matthew instead. Karl Azzopardi

10:01 "I told him that I was alerted and people were telling me that they were scared." The people who told her this are local journalists and journalists who work with foreign media. Karl Azzopardi

10:00 It was not normal to have one journalist singled out, she said. Karl Azzopardi

09:59 “Matthew explained the situation with his mother and the pressure. I started to ask him how it had become like this. I was shocked because he had been going through this for a long time. Family dogs being killed, arson attempts at the house,” Pauline Adès-Méve says. Karl Azzopardi

09:58 She had managed to speak to Matthew Caruana Galizia, who was working with ICIJ at the time. So, they met in July 2017 at the Reporters Without Borders (RSF) HQ. Karl Azzopardi

09:58 In her vast experience of reporting, she said she knows when the situation for journalists is not normal. Karl Azzopardi

09:57 "It’s important that I tell you about these alerts. We don't take them for granted but we investigate,” Adès-Méve says. Karl Azzopardi

09:57 That was after the Panama Papers exploded, she said. It wasn't Daphne Caruana Galizia herself who contacted her, but other journalists. Karl Azzopardi

09:56 In February 2017, when Malta was about to lose one rank in the press freedom index, she had received information that Daphne Caruana Galizia was being harassed and had her assets frozen. Karl Azzopardi

09:55 “It was clear that given this context that something was wrong,” she says. Karl Azzopardi

09:55 "When I joined RSF I immediately noted that Malta was very well placed." She said that reporters in Malta were reporting being tense and scared of backlash Karl Azzopardi

09:54 She was monitoring 40 countries. Karl Azzopardi

09:54 Pauline Adès-Méve was responsible for monitoring the situation of press freedom in the European Union. Karl Azzopardi

09:53 “It’s an important moment. I've been working on the case for three years, really three years and a half because I was aware of the difficult situation of journalists in Malta,” Pauline Adès-Mével says. Karl Azzopardi

09:51 Vella steps off the stand. Pauline Adès-Mével is called in. Karl Azzopardi

09:51 A libel judgment over articles written in Maltastar under the editorship of Kurt Farrugia in which Daphne Caruana Galizia was demonised was also presented. Karl Azzopardi

09:50 Therese Comodini Cachia tells the board she wants to present an interview Daphne Caruana Galizia had given shortly before she was killed in which she described the threats she faced. Corrinne Vella presents the copy to the board, together with an article from the Guardian about the journalist. Karl Azzopardi

09:43 Therese Comodini Cachia presents a copy of the NAO report on Vitals Global Healthcare to the board. Karl Azzopardi

09:43 The three judges leading the public inquiry emerge. Retired judge Michael Mallia is heading the inquiry. Former chief justice Joseph Said Pullicino and Madame Justice Abigail Lofaro are the other members. Karl Azzopardi

09:42 Reporters Without Borders editor-in-chief Pauline Adès-Mével will testify today. Karl Azzopardi

09:26 Good morning. The public inquiry should be starting at 9:30am. Karl Azzopardi

The public inquiry into the murder of Journalist Daphne Caruana Galiza continued today with the testimony of Reporters Without Borders (RSF) Editor-in-Chief Pauline Adès-Mével.

 Adès-Mével gave the inquiry board a European overview of how Malta's press freedom compared with its European counterparts.  She had met with many Maltese journalists as she was researching her report on the state of the Maltese media, she said. Many were working in fear and at risk,  Adès-Mével explained. 

"Many beleive that their phones are monitored, not one of them will communicate unless through encrypted networks. This feeling is reinforced now. In 2016 I was receiving emails on my normal work account. I would say that this is one sign that things have changed. Also the SLAPP procedures against Daphne, Matthew, Caroline Muscat and other journalists themselves. This is shocking. Journalists are under judicial pressure even when they are dead," she said.

"The fact that the journalists we meet here do not want to be seen with us. It's a small island and it gives indication that they do not feel safer than they were." 

One journalist in particular is "more watched than the others", she said, but gave no further information on this.

"Since the trial is not over and there is no judgment in this case.. who is behind the perpetrators? It could also be a foreign country. As long as we don't know who had ordered this murder... RSF is committed to get justice for this case," she said.

In the previous sitting, Kurt Farrugia testified on his role within the Office of the Prime Minister. Farrugia said that when he confronted Former Tourism Minister Konrad Mizzi about his mention in the Running Commentary, Caruana Galizia’s blog, the minister had replied that it was “bluff”.

Farrugia said that he had spoken to Mizzi and Keith Schembri when Panama Papers broke to formulated a reaction. Asked by the inquiry presiding judge Michael Mallia what their reaction was, Farrugia replied: “I don't remember exactly but they had said that there were incorrect assertions.”

The public inquiry was supposed to be held last Wednesday, but was moved to a later date after middleman Melvin Theuma was found bleeding inside his Swieqi apartment on Tuesday night, with sustained injuries to his left hand, abdomen and throat.

Police said the wounds were self-sustained.

READ MORE: Caruana Galizia public inquiry: Konrad Mizzi’s first reaction to Panama blog was ‘bluff’

The public inquiry is tasked with, amongst other things, determining whether the State did all it could to prevent the murder from happening.

Caruana Galizia was murdered in a car bomb just outside her Bidnija home on 16 October 2017. Three men, George Degiorgio, Alfred Degiorgio and Vince Muscat, have been charged with carrying out the assassination, while Yorgen Fenech is charged with masterminding the murder.

Melvin Theuma, who acted as a middleman between Fenech and the three killers, was granted a presidential pardon last year to tell all.

The inquiry is led by retired judge Michael Mallia, former chief justice Joseph Said Pullicino and Judge Abigail Lofaro.

READ ALSO: Murder middleman Melvin Theuma’s medical condition remains stable