Updated 4pm, adds statement from Pieter Omtzigt
MEP David Casa on Thursday held a meeting with various European journalist organisations based in Brussels and across Europe, during which he discussed the Daphne Caruana Galizia Prize for Journalism.
During the meeting, Casa thanked the journalists’ organisations for their support and efforts.
“One of the reasons for establishing The Daphne Caruana Galizia Prize for Journalism is that the European Parliament wants to send a message to all journalists across Europe: we support your work, we defend you, and we want to provide you with all the necessary tools for your investigations.
"The prize is only the first step of many we want to take in the upcoming months to safeguard journalists in our continent," Casa said.
He added that Caruana Galizia's legacy "is here to stay”.
Casa spearheaded the process for The Daphne Caruana Galizia Prize in Journalism in his role within the bureau’s Working Party on Information and Communication Policy.
During the meeting, MEP Casa reiterated his position, which was also adopted by the bureau, that there should be no political interference in the prize.
Therefore, both the organisational committee and the jury will be made up of journalists, with no MEPs involved. The prize will be awarded annually around October 16, starting from next year.
Casa also updated the organisations on the meeting he had with the European Commission’s Vice President for Values and Transparency Věra Jourová, during which he insisted on addressing the abusive SLAPP practices and additional funding for media houses, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Another year and still no justice for Daphne - Pieter Omtzigt
Meanwhile, in a statement, Pieter Omtzigt, the Council of Europe Parliamentary Assembly’s rapporteur on Daphne Caruana Galizia’s assassination and the rule of law in Malta, said that another year has passed and there is still no justice for Daphne.
“Even though three suspected triggermen were charged almost three years ago, even though the intermediary confessed almost a year ago, the trial of those accused of Daphne’s murder has still not begun. The pre-trial ‘compilation of evidence’, which began in 2017, splutters on sporadically, mired in confusion, with no end in sight.”
Omtzigt said that although magisterial inquiries into Caruana Galizia's reports on high-level corruption continue to lead nowhere after three-and-a-half years, the Prime Minister is trying to shut down the independent public inquiry into her assassination after only a year.
This inquiry has made remarkable progress in casting official, public light on the wider circumstances surrounding her death. It must be allowed to fulfil its broad and inclusive mandate, he said.
“My thoughts are with Daphne’s family on this sad day. Three years have passed but we have not forgotten and we will not forget. The fight is not over,” Omtzigt said.