2020 Annual Report: Attacks on media in Europe must not become a new normal

Launch of the 2020 Annual Report by the partner organisations to the Council of Europe Platform to Promote the Protection of Journalism and Safety of Journalists Attacks on press freedom in Europe are at serious risk of becoming a new normal, 14 international press freedom groups and journalists’ organisations, including the European Federation of Journalists (EFJ), warn today as they launch the 2020 annual report of the Council of Europe Platform for the Protection of Journalists. The fresh assault on media freedom amid the Covid-19 pandemic has worsened an already gloomy outlook. The report analyses alerts submitted to the Platform…

EFJ calls on EU leaders to demand the resignation of Maltese Prime Minister

The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) and International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) joined today the “Europe stands with Malta” demonstration in front of the Maltese Permanent Representation in Brussels, to stand in solidarity with the people of Malta demanding the immediate resignation of the Maltese Prime Minister following his office being implicated in the assassination of investigative journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia. Several speakers, including Andrew Caruana Galizia, Maltese MEP David Casa, Tom Gibson (Committee to Protect Journalists), Ricardo Gutiérrez (European Federation of Journalists), Oliver Money-Kyrle (International Press Institute) and Alice Stollmeyer (Defending Democracy), spoke out against injustice and impunity in…

Europe stands with Malta

Please join us in front of the Maltese PermRep, to stand in solidarity with the people of #Malta demanding the immediate resignation of the Maltese Prime Minister following his office being implicated in the assassination of investigative journalist #DaphneCaruanaGalizia. The gathering is being co-organised with the Maltese community. All those who wish to stand in solidarity with our fellow EU citizens over the current constitutional crisis in Malta are warmly invited to join us. Malta is part of Europe; democracy and justice concern us all ! Draft program: 12:30 welcome (bring lunch, flags & placards!) 13:00 program with speakers and…

MATTHEW MIRABELLI / AFP.

Malta: EFJ urges close scrutiny as the public inquiry into the assassination of Daphne Caruana Galizia begins

The long awaited public inquiry into the assassination of Daphne Caruana Galizia will begin this Friday 6 December at the Law Courts in Valletta. For two years, our organisations have supported the family of Daphne Caruana Galizia in calling for an independent, impartial and effective inquiry. The inquiry will address questions including whether the State knew or ought to have known of the risk to Daphne Caruana Galizia’s life; whether they failed to take measures to protect her life; and whether the State is fulfilling its obligations to protect journalists whose lives are at risk from criminal acts. We will…

EFJ and international organisations demand an end to impunity two years after the assassination of Daphne Caruana Galizia

Two years after the assassination of journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia in Malta, on 16 October 2019, we, the undersigned international free expression, anti-corruption, and journalists’ organisations, once again demand an end to impunity for this heinous attack. Six of our organisations, including the European Federation of Journalists (EFJ), took part in an international freedom of expression mission to Malta one year ago, where, at the highest levels of government, we raised our profound concerns about this case and the broader worrying free expression environment in Malta – which has fallen 30 places over the past two years and is now…

Two years since the assassination of Daphne Caruana Galizia

The European and International Federations of Journalists (EFJ and IFJ) joined today their Maltese affiliate, the Institute of Maltese Journalists (IGM), in standing with those fighting for justice, two years after the assassination of Daphne Caruana Galizia. IFJ and EFJ associate themselves with IGM’s press release issued today: “It has been two years since the day Daphne Caruana Galizia was brutally murdered in a horrific attack on freedom of speech. Two years since a fellow journalist was killed because someone feared what she had to say and used the threat of murder as a tool to censor the Maltese press.…

Vigil for Daphne Caruana Galizia: No justice two years on

Wednesday 16 October 2019 will mark two years since the brutal assassination of Malta’s best-known investigative journalist and anti-corruption campaigner, Daphne Caruana Galizia. Although three men have now been formally charged with her murder, a date for their trial has yet to be set while those who ordered her killing remain at large. To honour Daphne Caruana Galizia’s memory and to continue calling for justice, the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), the European Federation of Journalists (EFJ), the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ),  the Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders (a joint FIDH-OMCT programme), Reporters Without Borders (RSF)…

The EFJ welcomes crucial PACE resolution on the assassination of Daphne Caruana Galizia

We, the undersigned international freedom of expression and journalists’ organisations, welcome the resolution of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) adopted on 26 June, condemning the continued impunity for the assassination of journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia and broader systemic rule of law shortcomings in Malta, and inter alia, calling for the launch of an independent public inquiry within three months. Titled Daphne Caruana Galizia’s assassination and the rule of law in Malta and beyond: ensuring that the whole truth emerges, the resolution accompanied a report drafted by Dutch MP Pieter Omtzigt in his capacity as the PACE Special Rapporteur…

EFJ welcomes PACE report on Daphne Caruana Galizia’s assassination

The failure of Maltese authorities to identify the masterminds behind the murder of investigative journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia raises questions about the rule of law in Malta, according to a report adopted today in Paris by the Legal Affairs and Human Rights Committee of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE). PACE appointed a Special Rapporteur on this matter, Pieter Omtzigt (EPP), who has compiled a report titled “Daphne Caruana Galizia’s assassination and the rule of law, in Malta and beyond: ensuring that the whole truth emerges”. The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) welcomes the adoption of this…