Shameful that government officials continued to vilify Daphne Caruana Galizia 6 months since her assassination

Female investigative journalists, amongst whom is Daphne Caruana Galizia, are subject to violence and continuous attacks due to their work. Daphne Caruana Galizia used to suffer from systematic attacks from the government, was portrayed as a witch and government officials also tried to oppress her voice through legal action and garnishees. One would have expected the state to protect her but instead the state did the opposite. PN MEP Francis Zammit Dimech made these remarks in the context of a debate on gender equality in the media sector across the EU at the European Parliament in Strasbourg.

He said that today marks 6 months since the assassination of journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia and therefore it was opportune to discuss this subject. Among other issues, the report reflects on the need to break all forms of stereotypes in the media sector. In this context, Zammit Dimech said that Daphne Caruana Galizia was the best investigative journalist in Malta. He recalled how she was instrumental to unveil the Panama Papers scandal that in Malta saw the involvement of a Minister and the Chief of Staff of the Prime Minister. “Her work was of such a high level that a consortium of 45 journalists from 18 media organisation will continue to work on her most important stories,” added Zammit Dimech.

Zammit Dimech explained that commitment in favour of gender equality should also be strengthened to also build on the beliefs of Daphne Caruana Galizia who throughout her work, spoke several times in favour of gender equality in various sectors including that related to the working environment.

Francis Zammit Dimech is a member of the Committee responsible for the media and was EPP Group Rapporteur on the report concerning media freedom and pluralism in the EU.