Malta
Press Freedom Index Rank 81 from 180
A thread :

Malta politicians quit over investigation into murder of a journalist. Malta saw a change in government at the start of 2020 which was the result of the weeks of mass protests in the country’s capital demanding resignations after numerous revelations linked the-

murder of journalist Daphne Curauna Galizia to the heart of the government leadership. Former Prime Minister Joseph Muscat was forced to resign along with his chief of staff Keith Schembri, who had been linked to the journalist’s death in testimonies by those charged-

with her assassination. Yorgen Fenech, a director of Electrogas, arrested as the mastermind behind Daphne Galizia’s murder to a shady energy deal she had exposed. The public enquiry into the journalist’s death and wider circumstances — which the Maltese government-

finally launched two years after her death and only following pressure from the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, among others — is revealing a picture of political interference intended to disrupt investigations and shift blame away from those at the helm-

of government. In January 2020, a court in Malta ruled that government orders to clear tributes left by citizens at the protest memorial for Daphne in Valletta, breaching the activists’ fundamental right to freedom of expression. The constant clearing of the memorial-

lasted almost two years by the orders of the Justice Minister, made with the “thought and specific intention to create division while hindering protest and burying calls for justice. The weakness of the rule of law in Malta and the challenges it places on journalists-

have been do inenten in reports by major european bodies, including the European Parliament and the Council if Europe. Maltese journalists from six independent media houses told a delegation of MEPs from the European Parliament Civil Liberties Commitee that they feared-

for their safety and operated in a culture of intimidation and threats. Media threats during the past year continued, with several documented instances of denial of access to information or press events, toxic rhetoric by government officials, failure to recognise-

non-State issues press cards, as well as unlawful detention of press members (including international press) following a press conference in late 2019. A report by RSF in collaboration with The Shift News documented press freedom challenges in Malta, including-

government officials directly targeting and attempting to discredit journalists covering government corruption. Media ownership remains dominated by the two main political parties in the country, leading to propaganda and disinformation.

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