International Federation of Journalists joins call for public inquiry into journalist’s death

The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) has joined a growing list of international organizations in calling for an independent commission of inquiry into the assassination of Daphne Caruana Galizia.

The motion was proposed by the Federation Nazionale della Stampa Italian (FNSI) and unanimously approved at the June 11th to 14th IFJ World Congress in Tunis.

The international body of journalists is demanding ‘truth and justice’ and the establishment of an independent commission of inquiry into the killing of Maltese journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia, noting that over a year has passed since her murder. There is as yet no progress in the investigation, and no suspect has been named.

The IFJ urges trade unions for journalists worldwide to join this campaign “to keep the memory of the killed colleague in the public eye, and ask national governments and supranational institutions to make every effort to find the truth about her murder.”

The IFJ is just one among a growing list of international bodies and press freedom organizations calling for an independent public inquiry, including the Council of Europe, Reporters Without Borders (RSF), PEN International, European Centre for Media Freedom, the International Press Institute, ARTICLE 19, and the Committee to Protect Journalists.

Maltese Prime Minister Joseph Muscat continues to block such an inquiry, despite having said “no stone would be left unturned” in finding out why Caruana Galizia was killed and who ordered her assassination.

The IFJ emphasized the need to “observe that media staff also die in countries that are not in a war zone, and that more and more reporters pay with their lives, all over the world, just for doing their job of investigation to unmask crime and corruption”.

More than 600 journalists have been killed worldwide in the last six years, and in nine out of 10 cases, the perpetrators of these crimes remain unpunished.