The European Parliament will stand side by side with threatened Maltese media houses - David Casa 

In a letter to the legal representatives of Turab Musayev, SOCAR’s representative and the beneficial owner of a company involved in the corrupt Montenegro deal, Member of the European Parliament David Casa condemned the threats against Maltese media houses and called for the immediate retraction of such threats. 

In the letter, which is being attached, MEP Casa insisted that if the threats are not retracted, the situation will inevitably be escalated. “The severity of this case necessitates the use of every platform the European institutions provide to put a stop to the harassment of the free press and the subversion of democracy.”

MEP Casa, who is increasing the pressure on the European Commission to launch an anti-SLAPP Directive, said that “until such legislation is in place, you will find the European Parliament standing side by side with media houses that are threatened and harassed by those they investigate and their legal representatives.”

In his letter to the lawyers of SOCAR’s representative, David Casa referred to the assassination of Daphne Caruana Galizia. “I note with grave concern that the substance of this case is linked to the investigative work of journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia who was assassinated in order to prevent her from exposing linked cases of high level corruption and money laundering.”

MEP David Casa supports the Maltese Institute for Journalists call for an end to this abusive practice.

The letter is being attached to this press release.