Journalists were the ones facing security risks while on duty, the journalists' institute hit back at the Prime Minister’s reply to a judicial protest.

Together with six journalists, the Institute of Maltese Journalists (IGM) had filed the protest after journalists were stopped from leaving Castille following a 3am press conference last Friday.

On the day, security had waited for Prime Minister Joseph Muscat to leave the building before allowing members of the media to leave.

The press conference had been called at the end of a six-hour long Cabinet meeting convened to discuss a request for a presidential pardon by 17 Black owner Yorgen Fenech. He has since been charged with being the mastermind behind the murder of Daphne Caruana Galizia.

The incident had seen IGM file a judicial protest against the Prime Minister and the Attorney General who rebutted by means of a counter protest, claiming that whoever willingly attended the press conference had “also freely accepted to abide by the rules of procedure including any decisions taken by security officials tasked with crowd control.”

According to the counter protest, such events always followed established protocol.

The decision not to allow the journalists out of the room had been taken to “avoid rush” and also any possible “security risk”, while the measure did not amount to an unlawful arrest or breach of rights, it added.

On Friday the IGM questioned what protocol it was referring to, and who had agreed to it.

No such protocol had ever been followed in similar events and there was certainly no agreement of the sort, the IGM said.

As for the alleged “rush” and “security risk” the institute said that this was “an insult to journalists,” pointing out that journalists were the ones facing such risk when carrying out their duty.

The institute added that the Prime Minister had not yet said anything about the 'security officials'.

"Who had appointed them? Were they public officials? Why was the need felt to beef up security only on this occasion, when the journalists attending were identifiable and all acting in good faith?"

The IGM claimed that the measure had been adopted to prevent journalists from asking further questions after the press conference.

It also questioned whether journalists were being considered a 'crowd', considering the reference to ‘crowd control’.

If the OPM considered them as such, then the highest authorities “truly had no respect towards the press,” the IGM said.