As we approach the sixth month since Daphne Caruana Galzia’s murder her family has called on international journalists to do their part in aiding the investigation.
Speaking at Syracuse University in New York, where the murdered journalist was posthumously awarded the Tully Award for Free Speech, her son Matthew urged international journalists to “look into the networks between countries that allow actors like this to move money and materials. Finding the networks will help find the people behind our mother’s murder.”
Matthew said “his mother was often frustrated because she was the only one asking questions and finding answers. “It was at a point where she was almost the only opposition voice to the corruption that was happening in the government and she was worried,” he said.
Caruana Galizia’s husband Peter also addressed the event and said “her death set democracy in Malta back by many decades.”
He said that his wife had a special combination of courage and tenacity that very few possess.
However, the Caruana Galizia family said that she had a positive influence on other journalists and thanks to her determination more journalists started using their own names in print and more women entered the previously male-dominated industry.
They also noted that following her death The Shift News was created.
The family described the results of the investigation into the murder as a sham to cover for the actions of the mastermind behind the assassination.
“Our mother never investigated or wrote about the men who were arrested,” Matthew said. “And it takes more than three men to plan a car bombing, especially of a high-profile figure. With these arrests, the Maltese government is trying to close the case and move on, so that she can be forgotten.”
However, civil society organisations are keeping up the pressure and a mass and vigils will be held in Valletta and other European capitals on Monday 16 April to mark six months since the assassination.
The events in Valletta organised by Civil Society Network, Occupy Justice, Kenniesa and Awturi will commemorate the murdered journalist and reiterate their calls for justice and an independent investigation.
Archbishop Charles J. Scicluna who was recently attacked by Labour supporters for retweeting an article which spoke about patronage and dependency on the political class, will be celebrating mass at 6pm at St Francis Church, Republic Street Valletta.
This will be followed by a vigil at 7pm at Great Siege Square in Valletta. Vigils will also be held simultaneously in London, Brussels, Berlin, Amsterdam and Edinburgh.
The vigil in London is co-sponsored by English PEN, Reporters Without Borders (RSF), Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), Index on Censorship, il-Kenniesa, PEN International and ARTICLE 19.