Daphne Foundation slams slow progress four years since public inquiry

Nothing has changed since the public inquiry into Daphne Caruana Galizia’s assassination was concluded four years ago, the Daphne Foundation has said.

In a statement marking four years since the final inquiry report was delivered to the prime minister, the foundation said that most of the recommendations are still outstanding, putting journalists in danger.

“The purpose of the inquiry was for the State to understand its failures and to learn how it must change to prevent future deaths. This isn’t just a moral choice. It’s a legal obligation: a State has a positive obligation to protect lives,” the foundation said.

It said that, if implemented effectively, the recommendations could change the face of Maltese democracy, restore the rule of law, heal collective trauma and make Daphne the first and last journalist to be killed in Malta.

The inquiry proposed several wide-ranging changes to Maltese law and public life. It reiterated past recommendations made by the Council of Europe’s Venice Commission and GRECO (Group of European states against Corruption), while proposing amendments to Maltese criminal law regarding financial institutions and other organisations to prevent “a de facto state of impunity”. 

The inquiry board further recommended that the politics of sanctioning irregularities and illegalities must be reduced to a minimum, applicable only in exceptional cases, propsing criminal offences for the obstruction of police investigations or the abuse of office among public servants. 

For journalists, the inquiry said that a police unit well-versed in media law and the value of journalism should be specifically set up to protect them from intimidation, harassment, and insults and hate crimes.