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Press statements of the OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media
OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media calls for participatory public discussions on Malta’s draft media legislation
Publishing date: 1 March 2022
What we do: Media laws
Location: Malta
VIENNA, 1 March 2022- OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media (RFoM) Teresa Ribeiro presented today a legal analysis of two Maltese draft laws on media. This analysis is written by an independent international media expert and concerns Malta’s Bill of the Act “to amend the Constitution and various other laws to strengthen the right to freedom of expression and the right to privacy and to implement various measures for the protection of the media and of journalists” and of the Bill of the Act “to provide for the establishment of structures for the protection of democratic society, including the protection of journalists, other persons with a role in the media and in non-governmental organisations and persons in public life”.
OSCE Media Freedom Representative welcomes public inquiry report into the assassination of Daphne Caruana Galizia in Malta
Publishing date: 2 August 2021
What we do: Safety of journalists
Location: Malta
VIENNA, 2 August 2021 – OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media Teresa Ribeiro welcomed the report published by the independent Public Inquiry Board into the assassination of renowned investigative journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia in Malta in 2017. The Public Inquiry, launched in December 2019 by the Maltese authorities, was conducted by a board consisting of a retired judge, a former Chief Justice and a serving judge. This board was tasked to determine whether any wrongful action or omission by, or within, any State entity in Malta facilitated or failed to prevent the death of the journalist.
OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media welcomes new indictment in murder case of Maltese journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia
Publishing date: 1 December 2019
Location: Malta
VIENNA, 1 December 2019 – The OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media Harlem Désir today welcomed the bringing of criminal charges against businessman Yorgen Fenech for complicity in the murder of Maltese investigative journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia on 16 October 2017...
OSCE Media Freedom Representative pays tribute to killed journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia on two-year anniversary, during visit to Malta
Publishing date: 16 October 2019
What we do: Safety of journalists
Location: Malta
VALLETTA, 16 October 2019 – The OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media, Harlem Désir, participated today in ceremonies commemorating the two-year anniversary of the brutal assassination of leading investigative journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia, during a visit to Malta. He met with the family of the journalist at the memorial, near the city of Bidnija, where she was killed.
Malta must establish accountability for murder of Daphne Caruana Galizia, say human rights experts
Publishing date: 16 October 2019
What we do: Safety of journalists
Location: Malta
GENEVA/STRASBOURG/VIENNA, 16 October 2019- "Government of Malta remains far behind in its obligation to ensure that investigations in the murder of Daphne Caruana Galizia are conducted in a prompt, effective, independent and impartial manner,” said today in a joint statement Harlem Désir, OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media, Dunja Mijatović, Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights, David Kaye, UN Special Rapporteur on the Right to Freedom of Opinion and Expression, and Agnes Callamard, UN Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions.
Public inquiry into death of Daphne Caruana Galizia in Malta must be fully independent and yield justice, states OSCE Media Freedom Representative
Publishing date: 21 September 2019
What we do: Safety of journalists
Location: Malta
VIENNA, 21 September 2019 – The OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media, Harlem Désir, took note today of an important step taken by the Maltese authorities in launching a public inquiry into the death of investigative journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia, stating that the inquiry must be fully independent in order to bring long overdue justice for her family, colleagues and the whole of Maltese society...
Times of Malta must be able to protect confidential sources, says OSCE media freedom Representative
Publishing date: 11 November 2018
What we do: Media laws
Location: Malta
Vienna, 11 November 2018. Today, OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media Harlem Désir, called on all authorities to drop the request to the editor of the Times of Malta to disclose a source of information used in a report on a planned takeover of a building project, after the Malta Financial Services Authority (MFSA) made such request to the daily newspaper.
Each time a journalist is killed, a pillar of democracy crumbles, says OSCE Representative on first anniversary of Daphne Caruana Galizia’s murder
Publishing date: 15 October 2018
What we do: Safety of journalists
Location: Malta
VIENNA, 15 October 2018 – On the eve of the first anniversary of the horrific murder of Maltese journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia, the OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media Harlem Désir recalled the need to better ensure the safety of every journalist in the OSCE region, and called on the Maltese authorities to ensure that all those involved in this killing face justice...
OSCE representative welcomes decriminalization of defamation in Malta, urges dismissal of civil defamation lawsuits against Caruana Galizia’s heirs
Publishing date: 15 May 2018
What we do: Media laws
Location: Malta
VIENNA, 15 May 2018 – Welcoming the entering into force of Malta’s new Media and Defamation Act, the OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media (RFOM), Harlem Désir, called on the authorities to engage in further legal and policy reforms on civil defamation legislation...
OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media welcomes developments in investigation of murder of journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia in Malta
Publishing date: 6 December 2017
What we do: Safety of journalists
Location: Malta
VIENNA, 6 December 2017 – The OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media Harlem Désir today welcomed that, following a series of arrests earlier this week, three people have now been charged with murder in the case of the car explosion that killed the investigative journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia in Malta on 16 October 2017.