Malta warned of corruption crisis after ‘utter disbelief’ over Daphne Caruana Galizia verdict

Malta is vulnerable to “repeated instances of high-level corruption” unless it strengthens the rule of law and protections for journalists, the Labour peer Shami Chakrabarti said at the opening of an inquiry into judicial failures following the death of Daphne Caruana Galizia.Chakrabarti, a member of the House of Lords and former director of the human rights group Liberty, has been named special rapporteur for a Council of Europe investigation into the fallout from the assassination of the anti-corruption journalist, who died in a car bombing in October 2017.Malta is in turmoil after the acquittal of a wealthy and politically influential businessman, Yorgen Fenech, of any involvement in Caruana Galizia’s murder.Fenech denies paying a middleman €150,000 to have her killed.At the inquiry’s first hearing, on Wednesday, Chakrabarti said the verdict had “staggered many throughout Maltese society and beyond.Shami Chakrabarti: ‘Atmosphere of utter disbelief at how the jury could have reached such a decision’. Photograph: Jonathan Brady/PA“It’s now almost nine years since the assassination that struck at the very heart of Maltese public life but a mastermind has not yet been held accountable,” she added.The first witnesses on Wednesday were the journalist’s eldest son, Matthew Caruana Galizia, and her sister Corinne Vella, who questioned the verdict, which dismissed both charges against Fenech by an 8-1 majority.Matthew Caruana Galizia told members of the council’s committee on legal affairs and human rights: “The Maltese public have seen all of the evidence against the accused, and the vast majority were convinced of his complicity in the murder. And this is why there is this atmosphere of utter disbelief at how the jury could have reached such a decision.”Malta’s state prosecutor is understood to be preparing an appeal, with the aim of securing a retrial.The Council of Europe, founded in 1949 after the second world war, created the European convention on human rights. It is led by an assembly drawn from members of the parliaments of its 46 member states.During the hearing, representatives expressed shock and concern about the verdict, calling for the European parliament and the European Commission to intervene. Iulian Bulai, a Romanian centre-right politician, suggested the EU could withhold funds from Malta. The procedure, known as the rule of law conditionality mechanism, was first used in 2022, against Hungary.“If there is such huge problem in matter of rule of law and a function of the Maltese institutions, the EU should apply a similar procedure on increasing pressure for reform,” said Bulai. He said the procedure had “functioned in other cases … So why shouldn’t it function in Malta’s case?”Daphne Caruana Galizia pictured in 2011. Photograph: Darrin Zammit Lupi/ReutersMalta, the EU’s smallest member state, with a population of 600,000, is a net recipient of EU money. Analysis suggests that since joining the block 22 years ago, the island has received €2.4bn more in subsidies than it has paid in.Chakrabarti said she would look at why Malta had failed to implement many of the recommendations from a public inquiry held after the murder.“The targeted assassination of a journalist in the middle of investigating high-level corruption sent a chill down the spine of everyone who cares about democratic values,” she said. “Many claim that the legal and policy changes needed to protect journalists to combat corruption and ensure the independent functioning of justice have not been carried out.“I’m extremely concerned by the apparent absence of reforms in critical areas which make Malta vulnerable to repeated instances of high-level corruption and limit the press freedom which should hold it in check.”Yorgen Fenech leaving the courthouse in Valetta on 2 September after his acquittal. Photograph: Kevin Schembri Orland/APThe public inquiry found although there had been no evidence that the Maltese state had a direct role in the murder, the state bore responsibility for creating a climate of impunity.It recommended Italian-style anti-mafia laws, and making the hindrance of police investigations and abuse of office a crime for public officials. These measures have yet to be implemented.Chakrabarti compared the Caruana Galizia case to miscarriages of justice in the UK, where officials had been involved in coverups, citing the mismanagement of Grenfell Tower, the Post Office scandal and the Hillsborough football stadium disaster. She said her inquiry, titled Justice delayed: the unfinished implementation of the Daphne Caruana Galizia case, was likely to conclude in a year.Vella said fear that serious crimes could go unpunished had increased since the verdict. “Before the verdict was given, we lived in a country where a journalist was killed, but there was a chance of ending impunity. That disappeared as soon as the verdict was out.”She said journalists who had continued to investigate corruption allegations involving former members of Malta’s government “felt uneasy walking to their own cars following that verdict”.