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Daphne Caruana Galizia (1964-2017)
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IN MEMORIAM: :flower:
Two years to the day and we remember another brave soul whose life was taken from her whilst in the pursuit of truth, and, simply just doing her job. I saw her beautiful and serene memorial in Valletta recently, and was greatly moved.
From Wikipedia: Daphne Anne Caruana Galizia was a Maltese journalist, writer, and anti-corruption activist, who reported on political events in Malta.
Here's her final post on her notebook which isn't otherwise remarkable save for it being her final entry; how soon that was posted before she was assassinated is *unknown. (UPDATE - Oct 18th: believed to have been 3pm - Tintin Quarantino)
I'm in the process of pulling together as much information about her, and her incredible work, to include here on the forum and in the library as well.
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Re: Daphne Caruana Galizia (1964-2017)
Thanks for this TinTin . Im going to look into her.
Re: Daphne Caruana Galizia (1964-2017)
https://youtube.com/watch?v=F-g3ZVkC7AYIt was heartbreaking when it happened. It was all over the news.
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Re: Daphne Caruana Galizia (1964-2017)
Thanks all for your supportive thanks and comments here :bowing: :flower:
Lovin Malta reports on the 2nd anniversary vigils and protest that have taken place this week.
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IN PHOTOS: Thousands Gather In Valletta Protest Marking Two Years Since Daphne Caruana Galizia’s Unsolved Assassination By Julian Bonnici
October 16, 2019 at 8:00 pm
Thousands of people took to the streets of Malta’s capital to demand truth and justice on the two year anniversary of the assassination of journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia in a protest led by her entire family.
While three men have been charged, the masterminds behind the brutal murder remain at large.
Her sons, husband, mother, father, sisters, and nieces led thousands down Republic Street, with the crowds chanting “justice” as they marched, laying down flowers at the Great Siege Memorial, now a makeshift shrine for Caruana Galizia.
“The situation is still desperate,” placards said, in a reference to Caruana Galizia’s now-infamous last words. (People on social media have picked up on her final words, noting how timely and stirring they were, with commenters sharing her fitting final words across multiple platforms.)
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RELATED STORY: IN PHOTOS: 3pm, 16th October, Two Years Later – Silent And Sombre Vigil For Daphne Caruana Galizia In Bidnija
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Re: Daphne Caruana Galizia (1964-2017)
EU parliament calls on Malta PM to resign now over Caruana Galizia
Resolution questions ‘integrity and credibility’ of murder investigation
Jennifer Rankin in Brussels
Last modified on Wed 18 Dec 2019 16.45 GMT
Guardian UK
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People holding photos of Daphne Caruana Galizia during a rally in Valletta. Photograph: Andreas Solaro/AFP/Getty
The European parliament has called on Malta’s prime minister, Joseph Muscat, to quit immediately over his handling of the investigation into the murder of the journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia, as it declared there were “serious and persistent threats” to democracy and the rule of law on the island nation.
In a resolution approved by a large majority, the European parliament said it was deeply concerned about “the integrity and credibility” of the investigation into the death of Caruana Galizia, who exposed the shady financial dealings of Maltese elite and was murdered in a car bombing in October 2017.
The journalist’s assassination has turned the spotlight on Malta’s governing class, raising questions about its record in tackling corruption and money laundering, as well as the sale of “golden” passports that allowed wealthy people to live anywhere in the EU.
While the resolution cannot compel the Maltese government to act, it heaps pressure on the embattled prime minister, who has promised to stand down on 12 January. Two-time election winner Joseph Muscat announced his resignation earlier this month, after it emerged his chief of staff was about to be questioned by police in connection with the case.
The MEP resolution states that anything “whether perceived or real” that compromised the investigation into Caruana Galizia’s murder had to be excluded, but that “this risk [of compromise] persists for as long as the prime minister remains in office”.
A European parliament press statement to accompany the resolution was more direct: “Maltese prime minister should resign now.” But the parliament retracted that statement a few hours later, returning to the more cautious wording of the resolution described by one source as “a very roundabout way of saying he should resign now”.
The resolution was approved by 581 of the 690 MEPs who voted in Strasbourg, with 83 voting against and 26 abstaining.
MEPs also raised concerns about corruption and money-laundering on the island, while lamenting that a makeshift memorial to Caruana Galizia in the Maltese capital was cleared away every day. It called on Muscat to put an “an immediate stop to the near-daily destruction of the makeshift memorial in Valletta”.
The wide-ranging resolution was co-drafted by a cross-party trio of MEPs, who took part in an emergency mission to Malta early this month, after progress into the police investigation prompted the resignation of Muscat’s chief of staff, Keith Schembri.
Schembri, who masterminded two election victories for Muscat, has been arrested and released without charge twice in connection with the case. The prime suspect in the murder, the Maltese tycoon Yorgen Fenech, told a court Schembri gave him updates about the police investigation.
Fenech has pleaded not guilty to complicity in the murder and all other charges linked to the case. Schembri has denied all wrongdoing.
The resolution, supported across the political spectrum, states that the parliament “deeply regrets that developments in Malta in recent years have led to serious and persistent threats to the rule of law, democracy and fundamental rights including freedom of the media, the independence of the police and judiciary and the freedom of peaceful assembly”.
The language deliberately echoes that of the EU treaty’s article 7 on the rule of law, which could lead to a member state being stripped of voting rights if a “serious and persistent” breach of democratic values is found.
But the parliament stopped short of triggering the EU sanctions procedure. This procedure, currently being used against Poland and Hungary, is increasingly seen as ineffective, because it relies on EU member states acting against one of their own.
Article 7 “is a cannon without gunpowder”, the German Green MEP Sven Giegold, who co-drafted the resolution, said. “It is wiser to have several shots open rather than start with the loudest weapon and waste it.”
He is calling on the European commission to take the Maltese government to court when it breaks EU law, arguing Brussels should be acting over anti-money laundering controls and passport sales. “The infringement procedures [legal action] are not such a big cannon, but they have gunpowder.”
In a statement following the vote, Giegold said:
“The European commission can no longer turn a blind eye to the culture of impunity when it comes to money laundering and corruption in Malta. The newly elected commission must begin dialogue with the Maltese government on the rule of law with a view to commencing article 7 proceedings, if no immediate progress is made from the Maltese side.”
Earlier this week, the EU commissioner for justice, Didier Reynders, urged the Maltese government to speed up work to safeguard the independence of the judiciary, tackle corruption and set up a prosecution service free from any control by the prime minister.
These were all identified as problems by experts at the Council of Europe, a separate body to the EU. “Recent controversies have underlined that progress should accelerate,” Reynders wrote to the Maltese justice minister, Owen Bonnici. “Clarity about the steps and timetable ahead would be the best way to make clear that the commitments of the Maltese government to progress will be taken forward.”
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Re: Daphne Caruana Galizia (1964-2017)
Exposing Malta's dark side: ‘Daphne's story is far from over'
The story of our collaborative reporting on Daphne Caruana Galizia, the Maltese journalist whose 2017 murder plunged her country into turmoil.
Source: Guardian Newspaper
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A vigil on the first anniversary of the murder of anti-corruption journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia. Photograph: Clemens Bilan/EPA
Juliette Garside interviewed by Sophie Zeldin-O'Neill
Published on Sat 8 Feb 2020 12.00 GMT
In December 2019, Malta’s PM Joseph Muscat resigned, driven from office by the constitutional and political crisis triggered by the murder of the investigative journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia. Here, we talk to the Guardian’s investigative reporter Juliette Garside about her role in exposing the truth about what happened.
What was your first encounter with Daphne Caruana Galizia?
I had gone to Malta before Daphne was killed, to report on some of the political controversies she was exposing. She was Malta’s most famous journalist, working on very important stories, and we were worried she was isolated. Her son got in touch asking us to provide some support, and I went out just before the general election. We only wish we could have done more. There are big social and governmental issues in Malta and its news outlets often require patronage from one party or another, but Daphne had alienated both through her work, leaving her exposed.
She was hugely effective and she asked the big questions. She wanted to call out her country’s dysfunctional electoral system, financial regulators and money laundering, and ask how a European nation like hers was able to operate like this without consequences.
How did the investigation unfold?
The first instalment of our Daphne Project was published in April 2018, six months after she was killed in a car bomb. We were a loose collective of journalists, from Reuters, the Times of Malta, Le Monde and Süddeutsche Zeitung, who had agreed to work together. The idea for the collaboration came from Laurent Richard, the Paris documentary maker. He had just set up the Forbidden Stories network, whose mission is to continue the work of reporters who have been silenced in some way, either through violence, incarceration, or in Daphne’s case, murder.
Our stories focused on the police investigation, but also on concerns about corruption in political and business circles. I had been given a copy of a big leak of data from a flagship power station project. Daphne had been receiving the data when she was killed. She hadn’t had time to look at it. We found secret information showing this power station was a really bad deal for Malta, with taxpayers losing money hand over fist.
In October 2018, a year after the killing, we published another round of articles. The most important of these was about 17 Black Limited, a mysterious shell company Daphne had been looking into just before her death. Emails showed other shell companies in Panama, belonging to the energy minister and a second key member of the government, were due to receive payments from 17 Black. But nobody knew who it belonged to. Reuters revealed that the owner was businessman Yorgen Fenech, who also owned the power station.
The police had arrested the alleged bombers, who are awaiting trial. But the investigation into who had commissioned the killing had stalled. Two years later, the mastermind was still at large.
Finally, in November 2019, a middleman was arrested, and he began to talk. After receiving a presidential pardon in return for information, he named Fenech as the person who had paid for the assassination. Fenech was arrested while trying to flee Malta on board his yacht. He denies accusations of complicity in the killing. Soon after his arrest, we saw the resignations of the two cabinet members who had allegedly been due to receive payments from 17 Black: the former energy minister Konrad Mizzi and the prime minister’s chief of staff Keith Schembri. They both deny wrongdoing. By this point, the world’s media had turned to the story.
What was your main role in the coverage of this story?
Prior to joining the investigations team, I worked as a business reporter. My specialism is financial reporting, especially stories involving tax dodging and money laundering. I have a good knowledge of law and business, and am able to take a forensic look at financial accounts and money trails and help comb through big data sets. It’s often rather exhausting and painstaking work, and the kind of stories we unearth are legally risky, but it’s important in painting a clear picture of events.
Who else was involved in covering this?
Jacob Borg, from the Times of Malta, did some incredible on-the-ground reporting. He got a tipoff and was down at the marina watching last November as Fenech tried to flee the country on his yacht – his boat was stopped and the police brought him back onshore. Stephen Grey at Reuters was key to the 17 Black investigation - a real “shoe leather journalist”, as they say - as were Daphne’s sons Matthew (a computer programmer and investigative journalist) and Paul (also a journalist). Carlo Bonini from the Italian newspaper la Repubblica was also great in terms of police contacts. And of course my Guardian colleagues Hilary Osborne and David Pegg, my editor Nick Hopkins, and our Washington investigations correspondent Stephanie Kirchgaessner. It was Stephanie who arranged for us to get the data about the power station from Daphne’s sons.
Why was the Guardian well placed to cover this story?
The Guardian is a platform with a big readership, which can provide the much-needed rocket fuel for a story like this, but it can’t be emphasised enough how much of a collaborative effort was required to get it off the ground. One of the things that sets us apart from many other media groups, though, is the lack of a paywall, which means we are very widely read. And we publish in English, which gives us a huge potential readership. Our readers care about these sorts of stories. We have a long history of covering tax dodgers, corruption and kleptocrats with murky pasts. There’s our investigative work into HSBC’s Swiss bank, Apple, the Chinese retail industry, and of course the Panama and Paradise Papers, which had huge ripple effects. It’s an area we want to keep well-resourced.
Has Daphne’s death triggered change in Malta?
One impact was the resignation of Joseph Muscat as prime minister. His Labour party are still in power, and he has been replaced by Robert Abela, who was very much seen as the continuity candidate. People don’t think he will prosecute the alleged corruption cases uncovered during this affair. With Fenech due to stand trial, it’s possible that individuals closer to Muscat could be implicated, so who knows what that will bring.
Perhaps more importantly, Europe has woken up to the dangers that corruption in Malta represents for rule of law in the EU. And we are seeing the beginnings of a civil society in Malta; citizens are feeling more empowered. It’s so important for the family that this story continues to be covered. Nobody has been convicted of the murder yet, and the political corruption has not been dealt with. There is still a sense of impunity. Daphne’s story is far from over.
Re: Daphne Caruana Galizia (1964-2017)
Protests continue in Malta's capital Valletta today:
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Source: Daphne Caruana Galizia Foundation
On June 21st, 2020 Peter Caruana Galizia [widower] made the following statement which was published on the Daphne Caruana Galizia Foundation website.
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Statement from Peter Caruana Galizia
Prime Minister Robert Abela has admitted that he was wrong when he alleged, in a 1st September 2018 Facebook post, that my three sons were on a mission to derail the investigation into their mother’s assassination.
His comments were made in the context of our call for a public inquiry into the causes that led to Daphne’s assassination, a foreseeable consequence of the climate of impunity prevailing at the time of her murder which is still, largely, with us today.
I can say that Dr Abela’s allegation was one of the most painful comments my sons and I have had to bear since the 16th October 2017, when Daphne was killed.
Since that date, my sons and I have strived to ensure full justice is achieved for my wife and their mother and to ensure that all the persons involved - and it is now clear there were many - are investigated, arraigned, and convicted.
This will not bring Daphne back, but it is the least we can expect from our government - a government that has, for endless months, been hostile towards us and twisted facts, through persons close to the then prime minster Joseph Muscat, to imply that my son Matthew was complicit in the assassination and that I had a motive to kill my wife.
It is therefore heartening to learn from the media that Dr Abela has now retracted his allegation and that he has found in himself the courage and integrity to say so.
My sons and I welcome his commitment to provide the Malta Police Force with all the resources it needs to ensure that all persons involved in the corruption and impunity, and in Daphne’s assassination and subsequent cover-ups, are made to answer for their crimes. This is why we have stated repeatedly, Malta cannot ensure full justice without a Europol Joint Investigation Team (JIT) and that we expect our Attorney General to set this in motion immediately.
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