[WATCH] Update 2 | Turkish investigative journalist's baby denied Malta visa, government issues explanation

Updated at 5pm with Foreign Affairs Ministry statement

The Turkish investigative journalist Pelin Ünker has had plans to visit Malta upset after her one-year-old baby was denied a visa.

Ünker was handed a jail term from the Turkish courts for her Paradise Papers reports in January. PN MEP David Casa has been in talks with her and her legal team in Istanbul ever since and had even asked the Turkish government to drop the charges. Ünker is part of the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists.

"This government had no difficulty in granting thousands of visas to Algerian and Libyan citizens, amidst serious allegations of wrongdoing and to hundreds of Turkish construction workers. It is with a journalist's baby that they have taken issue. This is simply not on," Casa said in a statement released by the European People's Party (EPP) on Wednesday.

Ünker was going to attend an event with civil society as well as the late journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia's vigil on Saturday together with her baby and her husband. Despite the application for a visa for the one-year-old being rejected, the investigative journalist decided she would visit Malta notwithstanding, albeit for a few hours.

She will be speaking at Caruana Galizia's vigil on Saturday at 6:30pm.

Currently, Ünker is waiting for the Turkish court to determine whether to uphold a 13-month prison sentence against her for publishing reports on the Paradise Papers on relatives of politicians at the highest levels of power. She is coming to Malta after MEP David Casa, who visited her and her legal team, invited her to meet with civil society activists.

Foreign Affairs Ministry says Casa's allegations are "totally false"

A statement released by the Ministry for Foreign Affairs described David Casa's allegations as "totally false" and that the Maltese government had not in any way discriminated against the Turkish journalist.

"Ms Ünker was in fact granted a visa and can visit Malta for the activity she is scheduled to address," the statement read.

With regards to the family members not being granted a visa, the ministry said that it was simply following procedure. "Members of the family of Ms Ünker were not granted a visa given a previous decision which was already taken by another Schengen member state, whose authorities rejected similar applications by the same individuals," it said.

PN leader and Casa react

The PN MEP reacted on Twitter to the ministry's statement saying that it basically confirmed what he said, that the journalist's baby was denied a visa, while PN leader Adrian Delia said that the Maltese authorities disrupted the journalist's visit. "Shameful" the tweet reads.

Investigative journalist @pelinunker planning to attend Daphne’s vigil on Saturday. Maltese authorities disrupt the visit, denying visa to her one-year old. Shameful.https://t.co/F1qKc6YesU

— Adrian Delia (@adriandeliapn) March 13, 2019

@MaltaGov has just issued a PR reaction confirming what I said earlier - that whilst the visa for @pelinunker has been issued, the visa application for her one year old baby has been rejected. Disgraceful.@TheTimesofMalta @IndependentMlt @maltatoday

— David Casa (@DavidCasaMEP) March 13, 2019

The Head of the British human rights organisation Article 19, Sarah Clarke, also joined in on Twitter, saying that the denial of a visa could be a "de facto act of censorship, preventing the public's right to be informed by foreign journalists."

Concerning decision by #Malta to refuse a visa to @pelinunker 's infant child. While Pelin will still travel to Malta, the denial of visas can be a de facto act of censorship, preventing the public's right to be informed by foreign journalists https://t.co/D2Ih0ddnbW [1/3]

— Sarah Clarke (@Sarah_M_Clarke) March 13, 2019