Memorial to Daphne Caruana Galizia at the Great Siege Monument in Valletta, Malta. Photo: Ethan Doyle White via Wikimedia Commons

Index on Censorship is deeply concerned that the murder of Maltese investigative journalist Daphne   remains unsolved two years later. The brutal assassination on 16 October 2017 shocked Europe, and drew widespread condemnation.

Doubts about the investigations conducted by the Maltese authorities led the parliamentary assembly of the Council of Europe, in June this year, to call on Malta to establish an independent public inquiry. However, the recently announced inquiry does not meet the expectations of the assembly.

Index is also critical of the continuation of defamation lawsuits against Daphne Caruana Galizia’s family. At the time of the murder she was subject to more than 40 defamation lawsuits. Approximately 30 of these are continuing against her family, as Maltese law allows plaintiffs to pursue cases against the defendant’s estate.

Joy Hyvarinen, head of advocacy at Index on Censorship, said: “It is appalling that Daphne Caruana Galizia’s brutal murder remains unsolved after two years and that the government of Malta has only now established an inquiry, and that it has done so in a way that raises serious questions about the independence of that inquiry. Index urges other European countries to make it clear to Malta that the inquiry must be independent.”