Malta must not back down on media freedom, says Strasbourg human rights body – EURACTIV.com
The Maltese government continues to stifle independent journalism and must take action to protect media freedom and step up investigative efforts into the 2017 murder of journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia, the Council of Europe said on Thursday October 6.
Media freedom in the EU’s smallest member state remains under pressure as journalists continue to face difficulties accessing information and strategic public participation lawsuits (SLAPPs) from from state agencies in response to freedom of information requests.
Additionally, a number of lawsuits are still pending against Caruana Galizia, now inherited by her bereaved family.
“The Maltese authorities must ensure that the legislative work launched following the public inquiry report into the murder of Daphne Caruana Galizia complies with international standards and is fully open to public scrutiny and participation” , said the Council of Europe’s Commissioner for Human Rights, Dunja Mijatović. .
The Council of Europe, based in Strasbourg, although not an EU institution, is a body designed to protect human rights and democracy.
In a report examining the circumstances that led to Caruana Galizia’s death and whether the government could have prevented it, the Council of Europe made a number of recommendations on how to improve the protection of journalists.
The Maltese government has made three legislative proposals which were officially presented on September 28, including anti-SLAPP provisions.
These include the media sector as a whole and certain restrictions on the use of SLAPPs, which are a “step in the right direction”, according to Mijatovic.
However, in a letter to Malta’s Prime Minister Robert Abela, Mijatović expressed concern that the “expert committee” responsible for drafting the laws had “failed to reach out to civil society or to the wider journalistic community”, and that its working process “lacks transparency”.
She also urged the Maltese government to “avoid taking any action that may infringe on media freedom and the public’s right to know”.
She noted that the conviction of all those involved in the murder of Caruana Galizia is necessary to uphold the rule of law and Malta’s human rights obligations, in particular in terms of freedom of expression and freedom medias.
These changes proposed by the government were ignored by the investigative portal The Shift News. The award-winning independent portal was established shortly after the assassination of Caruana Galizia and has been instrumental in documenting the investigation whilst unearthing the ongoing corruption, crime and corruption in Maltese politics and public life .
The portal reported that government institutions were not responding to freedom of information requests regarding contracts and payments between a media oligarch and the government. They took the case to the Data Protection Commissioner who ruled in favor of all 40 requests, covering all government institutions.
Instead of handing over the information, however, the government filed 40 individual appeals in court, naming editor and founder Caroline Muscat as a plaintiff. So far, 12 rulings have been issued, all in favor of The Shift, while the government is also preparing to appeal those rulings.
The result is a legal bill of at least €40,000, more than half of the portal’s annual operating budget.
“The appeals already send a chilling message to media actors and the Maltese people as a whole that the government is prepared to vigorously counter efforts to bring official information under public scrutiny,” wrote Mijatovic in his letter to Abela.
In response, Abela said the new bills would “guarantee a very high level of protection for journalists and other media actors”.
“This is nothing more than an attempt to silence us. As Prime Minister Robert Abela talks about his defense of the free press by doling out taxpayers’ money to compliant media, he has launched a war that threatens the survival of a newsroom that holds the government accountable,” The passage said.
[Edited by Nathalie Weatherald]