In plenary in Strasburg on Tuesday 24 October, the European Parliament paid special tribute to Maltese investigative journalist, blogger and anti-corruption campaigner Daphne Caruana Galizia, who was killed when her car exploded on 16 October. The European Parliament observed a minute’s silence in the presence of her family.
In memory of the journalist who displayed "exemplary courage", the European Parliament press room in Strasbourg will now be called the Daphne Caruana Galizia room, European Parliament President Antonio Tajani announced.
"Daphne Caruana Galizia sought out the truth, the facts, and refused to let anyone stand in her way. She was not afraid to do whatever was needed to fulfil what her duty. In 30 years as a journalist, she never lost heart. She continued to shine light on darkness, to speak the truth, answering only to her readers, the only people to whom she felt accountable. Drawing on that inner strength, she published more than 20,000 articles denouncing abuses of power, corruption and the failings of governments", Tajani told the European Parliament plenary.
"Like every true journalist, she was a sentinel, a soldier on the front line defending our values. We have a free and independent press to thank for democracy, the rule of law and freedom of expression – all the fundamental rights on which the European integration process and our very civilisation are founded", Tajani stated.
"Our Union is far more than just a market or a single currency. It is the manifestation of our values, of our identity, at the heart of which stand freedom and dignity of the individual. If we are to defend that freedom and that dignity, inside and outside the Union, we must safeguard the independence of the press. I am proud that this Parliament has always been in the front line of that battle", he added.
Tajani urged the Maltese authorities to spare no effort in getting to the bottom of Caruana Galizia’s murder, and called for Europol to be involved in an international investigation.
A little earlier, French MEP Eva Joly (Greens/EFA) had called at a press conference for the appointment of an international investigator into Daphne Caruana Galizia’s revelations about corruption in Malta, and into the investigative journalist’s murder.
Joly said it was because she wanted to shed light on all this that Daphne Caruana Galizia had been murdered in cowardly a manner. Joly added that the assassination was an attack on European values and must be fully and independently investigated.
She announced that she hoped to see a European Daphne Caruana Galizia Prize for investigative journalism, similar to the Sakharov Prize.
Joly went on to explain that the struggle by journalists and whistle-blowers to shed light on cases is essential, but terribly dangerous. The EU cannot properly defend freedom of the press internationally when journalists are intimidated or assassinated in the EU, she added. (Original version in French by Emmanuel Hagry)