Repubblika marks four years from Daphne murder: ‘Our mission only ends when the situation is no longer desperate’

Repubblika, the NGO that led mass protests in 2019 on the arrest of Tumas magnate Yorgen Fenech, yesterday marked the fourth year from the assassination of journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia.

Robert Aquilina, the Repubblika president, addressed a vigil commemorating the event, saying the mission of the organisation will only end “when the situation does not remain as desperate”, referencing the last post Caruana Galizia filed on her blog the day she was murdered.

Caruana Galizia was killed in a car bomb on 16 October, 2017. Three men were arrested for carrying out the execution; one, Vincent Muscat, has pleaded guilty. Another two men, Robert Agius and Jamie Vella, are accused of procuring the bomb that killed Caruana Galizia.

“The corrupt Prime Minister Joseph Muscat tried to make us believe that it was all business as usual and two days after, he went around the world selling passports. We did not forget and made sure that no one in Malta and in the world forgets about Daphne,” Aquilina said.

He called on the Police Commissioner and the Attorney General to prosecute all those involved in the corruption that led to the murder of Daphne Caruana Galizia. He said that prosecution for all those stories that Caruana Galizia investigated and uncovered should also follow.

“It is unacceptable that two and a half months after the publication of the public inquiry report, Prime Minister Robert Abela has done nothing concrete about it. It is unacceptable that a group of people that were found to share responsibility for the murder of a journalist are still occupying public positions, and are still allowed to contest the general election.”

Aquilina also warned Robert Abela and the Labour party that no survey or any big election win would ever cancel out the memory of what former prime minister Joseph Muscat and his accomplices did. “Our mission comes to end when our country gets rid of the situation does not remain desperate as much as Daphne left it and when the only place where you only come across the corrupt, is in prison.”

Committee to Protect Journalists: ‘Daphne united everyone’

Tom Gibson, from the Committee to Protect Journalists said that the murder of Daphne shocked everyone but united everyone in a call for justice. “The murder was an attack on press freedom in Malta, but it was also an attack against press freedom in Europe. As we continue our calls for justice, let us also say right here right now.  Journalists and journalism cannot be attacked.”

He added that journalists strengthen the systems by bringing information to everyone’s attention and that therefore Daphne’s legacy will be preserved around Europe.

“But we all need to work together to ensure their protection.  Because this important work is under threat. But until there is justice for Daphne Caruana Galizia, and until journalists can work without fear, we must continue this struggle.”