Malta committed to prosecute all those involved in Caruana Galizia murder - Foreign Minister

Malta must ensure that all those involved in Daphne Caruana Galizia’s murder are brought to justice, Evarist Bartolo has told a conference on the safety of journalists.

The Foreign Minister was taking part in a ministerial roundtable of the World Press Freedom Conference hosted virtually by the Dutch government and UNESCO.

More than 1,000 journalists have been killed worldwide in the last 15 years, many of them in conflict and most of them for investigating corruption, economic crimes, political wrongdoing, human rights abuses and economic scandals. Only one case out of 10 was prosecuted to the full extent of the law, according to UNESCO.

“In Malta, we must ensure that all those involved in the killing of Daphne Caruana Galizia are brought to justice,” Bartolo said.

He underscored Malta’s commitment towards ensuring the safety of journalists and ending impunity.

Malta endorsed the conference’s final statement entitled The Hague Commitment on the Safety of Journalists.

Caruana Galizia was murdered on 16 October 2017 in a powerful car bomb outside her Bidnija home.

Three men who executed the assassination are awaiting trial, while the compilation of evidence against businessman Yorgen Fenech, believed to be the mastermind, is ongoing.

Fenech’s intimate links to people in government led to the resignation of Joseph Muscat from prime minister in January.

Although the police have not yet established a motive for the murder, it is believed that Caruana Galizia was killed for something she was going to write.

The Maltese government has over the past couple of years come under fire from international organisations for failing to investigate allegations of money laundering and corruption by people in power.

A public inquiry into Caruana Galizia’s murder is tasked with establishing whether the State did enough to prevent the assassination and offer protection to journalists.

COVID has hurt media organisations

Bartolo also highlighted the negative impact the COVID-19 pandemic has had on journalists who lost their jobs.

“Unless we take steps to help media organisations survive in the post-pandemic world, our democratic societies will emerge severely damaged,” he warned.

Bartolo said journalists were the weakest link in the media as power lies with the owners and their links to the political and economic systems. 

“The poorer the working conditions of journalists, the weaker their legal protection, the easier it is to turn them into cogs in the machines controlled by their owners, advertisers and sponsors,” he said, adding the health of democracy depended on the investigative work of journalists to hold powerful people in every sphere to account.

He called for State institutions and civil society to work together to nurture a political, social and economic eco-system to enable journalists to do their work protected from a wide range of crimes against them.