Yesterday’s debate at the European Parliament about the murder of Daphne Caruana Galizia, delayed justice and the rule of law in Malta was a very decent and valuable debate excluding the inanities and the stupid behaviour of Labour MEPs who have made everything possible to avoid discussing the slain journalist and her work.
The upstart Labour Party politician, Thomas Bajada, said nothing about Daphne Caruana Galizia and her work, and instead indulged in some Gaza whataboutism. Alex Agius Saliba inferred that MEPs wanted to pressure the Maltese government to ask the Court to rush Court cases. Daniel Attard accusing MEPs of attacking Malta.
What MEPs actually said was different.
First, Executive Vice-President of the European Commission for Tech Sovereignty, Security and Democracy, Henna Virkkunen, sent a message of appreciation to the Maltese authorities for their cooperation with the Commission. The Vice-President said that the Commission was monitoring the Maltese government’s application of EU directives including the Media Freedom Act. The Commission is also monitoring the issue of public spending on local media with regard to this directive.
David Casa started the debate among the MEPs and said that although changes were made to the way the judiciary is appointed, he highlighted that the government has failed to implement most of the recommendations of the Public Inquiry on the murder of Daphne Caruana Galizia. Other MEPs also highlighted the state of impunity in Malta noting that none of the politicians that were investigated by Daphne Caruana Galiozia have been arraigned in Court. Other MEPs highlighted on the importance of implementing the EU’s Anti-Slapp legislation to protect journalists from vexatious libel cases.
Other MEPs hailed and commemorated Daphne’s memory and her work and noted her vast contribution to Maltese journalism despite the dangerous atmosphere she worked in. They also condemned the vandalism of her makeshift monument in Valletta, which the Labour government is currently defending as free speech.
Peter Agius hit the nail on the head when he said that in Malta, Labour doesn’t want us to speak about Daphne because it makes Labour uncomfortable. As the Labour Party has made efforts to avoid discussing the slain journalist, while borrowing her legacy, the Labour government has strived, with enough dysfunction and conspiracy, to prevent prosecutions against the politicians that Daphne investigated.
You can listen to the full parliament debate here.
At the end of the day, the European Parliament held the prize-winning ceremony for the Daphne Caruana Galizia Prize. The award was rewarded to Follow the Money for their investigation of a sale of ships to Russia by Greek shippers, which enabled the formation of Russia’s shadow fleet. You can watch the full ceremony here.
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