Dunja Mijatovic, the Council of Europe’s Commissioner for Human Rights, has called in a letter on the Maltese authorities to lift the libel charges against journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia, who died in a car bomb attack in 2017.
These proceedings, which correspond to some thirty cases, were transferred to her heirs and, in their defence, they “may have to reveal information about her journalistic work and sources”. In Malta, the burden of proof is on the accused in defamation cases.
In her letter to Prime Minister Joseph Muscat on 12 September, published on Thursday, the commissioner recalls that the protection of journalists is guaranteed by the case law of the European Court of Human Rights and stresses that the fear of such prosecutions has a “chilling effect” on investigative journalism in Malta. On subjects of general interest such as corruption, she asks the authorities to consider reversing the burden of proof.
The Prime Minister of Malta’s response was communicated today. In particular, he asked the Commissioner to establish closer ties with his staff in order to “identify a common European approach to the issues raised” in her letter. (Original version in French by Véronique Leblanc)