Daphne Caruana Galizia’s assassination and the rule of law, in Malta and beyond: ensuring that the whole truth emerges

Motion for a resolution | Doc. 14479 | 23 January 2018

Signatories:

Mr Pieter OMTZIGT, Netherlands, EPP/CD ; Ms Boriana ÅBERG, Sweden, EPP/CD ; Ms Thorhildur Sunna ÆVARSDÓTTIR, Iceland, SOC ; Mr Riad ALAZZAM, Jordan ; Lord Donald ANDERSON, United Kingdom, SOC ; Mr Volodymyr ARIEV, Ukraine, EPP/CD ; Mr Damir ARNAUT, Bosnia and Herzegovina, EPP/CD ; Mr Viorel Riceard BADEA, Romania, EPP/CD ; Ms Theodora BAKOYANNIS, Greece, EPP/CD ; Lord Richard BALFE, United Kingdom, EC ; Ms Hannah BARDELL, United Kingdom, NR ; Ms Doris BARNETT, Germany, SOC ; Mr Boryslav BEREZA, Ukraine, EPP/CD ; Mr Peter BEYER, Germany, NR ; Mr Mladen BOSIĆ, Bosnia and Herzegovina, EPP/CD ; Ms Anne BRASSEUR, Luxembourg, ALDE ; Ms Reina de BRUIJN-WEZEMAN, Netherlands, ALDE ; Ms Rósa Björk BRYNJÓLFSDÓTTIR, Iceland, NR ; Mr Roland Rino BÜCHEL, Switzerland, ALDE ; Mr Ervin BUSHATI, Albania, SOC ; Mr Liam BYRNE, United Kingdom, SOC ; Ms Jette CHRISTENSEN, Norway, SOC ; Ms Lise CHRISTOFFERSEN, Norway, SOC ; Ms Tamar CHUGOSHVILI, Georgia, SOC ; Mr Vernon COAKER, United Kingdom, SOC ; Mr Raphaël COMTE, Switzerland, ALDE ; Mr Titus CORLĂŢEAN, Romania, SOC ; Mr Telmo CORREIA, Portugal, EPP/CD ; Mr Corneliu Mugurel COZMANCIUC, Romania, EPP/CD ; Ms Stella CREASY, United Kingdom, SOC ; Mr Yves CRUCHTEN, Luxembourg, SOC ; Mr Hendrik DAEMS, Belgium, ALDE ; Mr Şaban DİŞLİ, Turkey, EPP/CD ; Ms Nicole DURANTON, France, EPP/CD ; Mr Samvel FARMANYAN, Armenia, EPP/CD ; Ms Doris FIALA, Switzerland, ALDE ; Mr Pierre-Alain FRIDEZ, Switzerland, SOC ; Mr Xavier GARCÍA ALBIOL, Spain, EPP/CD ; Mr Afrim GASHI, ''The former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia'', EPP/CD ; Mr Marco GATTI, San Marino, EPP/CD ; Ms Iryna GERASHCHENKO, Ukraine, EPP/CD ; Mr Valeriu GHILETCHI, Republic of Moldova, EPP/CD ; Mr Carlos Alberto GONÇALVES, Portugal, EPP/CD ; Ms Sylvie GOY-CHAVENT, France, EPP/CD ; Mr Martin GRAF, Austria, NR ; Mr Antonio GUTIÉRREZ, Spain, SOC ; Mr Andrzej HALICKI, Poland, EPP/CD ; Mr Gábor HARANGOZÓ, Hungary, SOC ; Mr Alfred HEER, Switzerland, ALDE ; Ms Gabriela HEINRICH, Germany, SOC ; Mr Andres HERKEL, Estonia, EPP/CD ; Ms Arpine HOVHANNISYAN, Armenia, EPP/CD ; Ms Mariia IONOVA, Ukraine, EPP/CD ; Mr Michael Aastrup JENSEN, Denmark, ALDE ; Ms Susan Elan JONES, United Kingdom, SOC ; Mr Giorgi KANDELAKI, Georgia, EPP/CD ; Mr Mudassar KAPUR, Norway, EPP/CD ; Ms Sofio KATSARAVA, Georgia, SOC ; Ms Colette KELLEHER, Ireland, NR ; Mr Haluk KOÇ, Turkey, SOC ; Ms Borjana KRIŠTO, Bosnia and Herzegovina, EPP/CD ; Mr Eerik-Niiles KROSS, Estonia, ALDE ; Mr Luís LEITE RAMOS, Portugal, EPP/CD ; Ms Inese LĪBIŅA-EGNERE, Latvia, EPP/CD ; Mr Anže LOGAR, Slovenia, EPP/CD ; Mr Georgii LOGVYNSKYI, Ukraine, EPP/CD ; Ms Kerstin LUNDGREN, Sweden, ALDE ; Mr Rustam MAKHMUDYAN, Armenia, EPP/CD ; Mr Duarte MARQUES, Portugal, EPP/CD ; Mr Edmon MARUKYAN, Armenia, ALDE ; Mr Kęstutis MASIULIS, Lithuania, EPP/CD ; Mr Georgios MAVROTAS, Greece, SOC ; Ms Kerry McCARTHY, United Kingdom, SOC ; Ms Emilie Enger MEHL, Norway, ALDE ; Mr Anne MULDER, Netherlands, ALDE ; Mr Rónán MULLEN, Ireland, EPP/CD ; Mr Thomas MÜLLER, Switzerland, ALDE ; Mr Andreas NICK, Germany, NR ; Mr Joseph O'REILLY, Ireland, EPP/CD ; Ms Ria OOMEN-RUIJTEN, Netherlands, EPP/CD ; Ms Judith PALLARÉS, Andorra, ALDE ; Mr Bernard PASQUIER, Monaco, ALDE ; Mr Aleksander POCIEJ, Poland, EPP/CD ; Ms Agnieszka POMASKA, Poland, EPP/CD ; Ms Sanja PUTICA, Croatia, EPP/CD ; Ms Melisa RODRÍGUEZ HERNÁNDEZ, Spain, ALDE ; Mr Stefan SCHENNACH, Austria, SOC ; Ms Elisabeth SCHNEIDER-SCHNEITER, Switzerland, EPP/CD ; Ms Ingjerd SCHOU, Norway, EPP/CD ; Mr Frank SCHWABE, Germany, SOC ; Mr Senad ŠEPIĆ, Bosnia and Herzegovina, EPP/CD ; Mr Adão SILVA, Portugal, EPP/CD ; Mr Jan ŠKOBERNE, Slovenia, SOC ; Ms Angela SMITH, United Kingdom, SOC ; Mr Serhiy SOBOLEV, Ukraine, EPP/CD ; Mr Vetle Wang SOLEIM, Norway, EPP/CD ; Ms Olena SOTNYK, Ukraine, ALDE ; Ms Klodiana SPAHIU, Albania, SOC ; Mr David STELLINI, Malta, EPP/CD ; Mr Aleksandar STEVANOVIĆ, Serbia, ALDE ; Mr Davor Ivo STIER, Croatia, EPP/CD ; Ms Tineke STRIK, Netherlands, SOC ; Mr Michael SVENSSON, Sweden, EPP/CD ; Mr Birgir THÓRARINSSON, Iceland, NR ; Lord Don TOUHIG, United Kingdom, SOC ; Mr Dimitri TSKITISHVILI, Georgia, SOC ; Mr Egidijus VAREIKIS, Lithuania, EPP/CD ; Mr Evangelos VENIZELOS, Greece, SOC ; Mr Stefaan VERCAMER, Belgium, EPP/CD ; Mr Sergiy VLASENKO, Ukraine, EPP/CD ; Mr Martin WHITFIELD, United Kingdom, SOC ; Mr Phil WILSON, United Kingdom, SOC ; Mr Leonid YEMETS, Ukraine, EPP/CD ; Mr Emanuelis ZINGERIS, Lithuania, EPP/CD

This motion has not been discussed in the Assembly and commits only those who have signed it.

On 16 October 2017, Daphne Caruana Galizia was assassinated by a car bomb metres from her home, raising concerns internationally about corruption and the rule of law in Malta. Three Maltese men have been charged for their role in executing the crime while the instigators remain at large. Prominent subjects of Caruana Galizia’s investigations, who may bear responsibility for her death, have not yet been prosecuted. The Maltese Government also appears unwilling to hold a public inquiry on whether Caruana Galizia’s assassination could have been avoided.

Daphne Caruana Galizia was “the leading light of Maltese journalism” (The Guardian); “Malta’s most prominent investigative reporter” (The Washington Post); and “a one-woman Wikileaks, crusading against untransparency and corruption in Malta, an island nation famous for both” (Politico). Caruana Galizia was investigating Maltese members of government for their use of secret Panamanian companies, a private bank with links to Maltese and international political figures, and the sale of Maltese passports and strategic State assets to opaque buyers.

The Parliamentary Assembly believes that the international community has a responsibility to monitor the ongoing investigation to ensure that all aspects surrounding the assassination are thoroughly and impartially investigated by the competent authorities, without political interference suspected by numerous Maltese demonstrators. This must include an examination of the full context of the assassination, including institutional failures and the systematic targeting of Caruana Galizia for her work. The Assembly should help shed some light on the background of the crime, in co-operation with the relevant Maltese authorities. The effective investigation of this assassination is crucial to all who seek justice and an end to impunity for those who instigate and commit the assassination of whistleblowers and journalists.