POWER AND PERIL OF INVESTIGATIVE JOURNALISM: The murder of Maltese journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia - 'a one-woman Wikileaks' - speaks volumes about threat to freedom of speech in Malta and beyond

17/10/2017

12 Comments

“My mother was assassinated because she stood between the rule of law and those who sought to violate it, like many strong journalists. But she was also targeted because she was the only person doing so. This is what happens when the institutions of the state are incapacitated: the last person left standing is often a journalist. Which makes her the first person left dead.” says son Mathew Caruana Galizia

Daphne Caruana Galizia was a fearless reporter, taking on the rich and the powerful. A one-woman WikiLeaks, she led the Panama Papers investigation into corruption in Malta. Her last blog was characteristically trenchant, pithy and, unfortunately, more prescient for her than she could imagine. She had warned: “There are crooks everywhere you look now. The situation is desperate.” Less than half an hour later, a huge bomb ripped through the white Peugeot 108 rental car she had been driving, killing her instantly on a quiet country lane near her home in Malta. It is not special pleading to point out that journalists and journalism are facing extraordinary challenges: Galizia is the 10th journalist worldwide to die this year – and the second in Europe – in pursuit of finding the truth. The Guardian

The Maltese Police said the journalist had just left her home and was on
a road near the village of Bidnija in northern Malta when the bomb detonated. Local media said she had reported receiving threats two weeks ago, although police officials denied receiving any complaint. Caruana Galizia’s most recent revelations pointed the finger at Malta’s prime minister, Joseph Muscat, and two of his closest aides, connecting offshore companies linked to the three men with the sale of Maltese passports and payments from the government of Azerbaijan

The scene of the car bomb that killed Daphne Caruana Galizia.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/oct/17/the-situation-is-desperate-murdered-maltese-journalists-daphne-caruana-galizia-final-words

“The right of a journalist to investigate, ask uncomfortable questions and report effectively is at the heart of our values and needs to be
guaranteed at all times."
EU Commission spokesman Margaritis Schinas

12 Comments

Rajend Naidu

17/10/2017 12:28:13 pm

Editor,
Upholding the Ethics of Her Journalistic Profession .
The fearless Maltese journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia was murdered because the rich, powerful and corrupt in society found her and her work as an investigative journalist - asking " uncomfortable questions"and digging up their dirty, rotten dealings - unpalatable. You can only respect and admire a person like her for steadfast commitment to upholding the ethics of her profession despite the threat to her own life.
Who can disagree with her last words : " There are crooks everywhere..."
We have many of our own parked in high places . They too don't tolerate journalists doing their job the way they are meant to. But
unlike bold journalists around the world who are regularly killed by people wanting the truth of their corrupt ways kept hidden, our journalists are lucky : they are only harassed and intimidated by the big bully boys.
Sincerely,
Rajend Naidu

Rajend Naidu

17/10/2017 12:40:26 pm

Editor,
Crooks at the top.
We read in ' Former Rio Tinto CEO Tom Albanese, ex-CEO Guy Elliot charged with fraud by SEC' ( smh 18/10/17 ) that the US market regulator charged mining company Rio Tinto and two of its former top executives with fraud, stating " They tried to save their own careers at the expense of the investors by hiding the truth".
I was not at all surprised by this because hiding the truth has become something of a norm with mining giants.
Remember what happened in Brazil with Samarco...
Many more examples are available.
Sincerely,
Rajend Naidu

Chiku

17/10/2017 04:17:40 pm

Yes, when the institutions of the state are incapacitated the last person left standing is often a journalist - but not the kind in the Fiji Sun who instead of standing up for the integrity of the open society throw their sycophantic support behind the powerful and the corrupt.

Bahuki

17/10/2017 05:10:21 pm

In Fiji's case, any journalist who tries to uncover the dirty trail that the current regime has left behind ever since 2006 is often prosecuted since public protesting could lead one to getting shot if extreme measures were taken.

fijivillage.com and Fiji Sun just love straddling the government's lap with its propaganda crap leaving the Fiji Times to end up taking the piss for just doing its job of publishing actual facts to which Khaiyum often criticizes as if the paper did something wrong like the egoistic delusional maniac that he is.

Hard to protest or else you're detained, and you get heat just for exposing the government's true colors when Frankie and Ayarse are all caught up in this little fantasy of theirs to which no one but their blind supporters agreed to.

Muzzling media freedom a sad reality yet is nothing new since Fiji is not so different from Malta but not completely similar at least when there's a hidden dictatorship taking control.

Welcome Home

17/10/2017 06:56:41 pm

Threats were reported: brave! When the Police are rogue and party to the destruction of the Rule of Law, their absence from assistance is an immediate symptom of the disintegration of state apparatus to protect bona fide citizens and residents. When threats are proven to have come from INSIDE prisons the seriousness is near terminal. Either we care and pay heed or the decline gains momentum apace. Who are the Gatekeepers of Fear orchestrating violence in a Commonwealth country on the edge of Europe and how far is their reach? Pray for Daphne Caruana Galizia: her legacy and her place in the history of the Struggle for Peace is assured. Her demons are our demons.

Rajend Naidu

18/10/2017 09:04:38 am

Editor,
Dirty Politics
The chairman of the Kenyan Electoral Commission has said it is not likely for a " free and fair " election rerun to take place when elections are held in a week's time.
There is " political interference " in the work of the Commission. Recently there was some tinkering with the electronic vote transmission technology.
One deputy commissioner Rosalind Chebuki has quit the Commission and fled to America. She claims there are threats to commissioners and political interference.
This claims vindicated the opposition leader and presidential candidate Raila Odinga's decision not to participate in a rerun election saying without comprehensive reform the Electoral Commission cannot guarantee a free and fair election.
I wonder what those international election monitors who gave their okay to the last election as " credible " have to say about the new developments on the Kenyan election scene?
Dirty politics can happen in elections.
We need to guard vigilantly against it happening.
Sincerely,
Rajend Naidu

Rajend Naidu

18/10/2017 09:54:03 am

Editor,
Political killings Not Uncommon
We learn from Victor Caivano's article ' Body of missing protester may have been found in Argentina' ( AP 18/10 ) that the 28 year old protester Santiago Maldonado, remained disappeared for 78 days since being arrested and shoved into a van during a crackdown by the National Police during a protest by the Mapuche community against the giving of their ancestral lands to the multinational company Benetton.
The case struck a cord in Argentina where thousands died or were forcibly disappeared during the 1976- 1983 military dictatorship.
Maldonado's disappearance prompted tens of thousands to protest and led to expressions of concern by international rights groups. U2 lead singer and social activist Bono raised the issue last week with President Mauricio Macri, whose government has been accused by some rights groups of being part of a cover up.
The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights has recently convened a meeting on the issue with the Argentine government.
Maldonado's body was found in a river near the location of the protest.
The rich and powerful don't tolerate any body standing in the way of the pursuit of their agenda, and often have the government's collusion to remove the obstacles.
Sincerely,
Rajend Naidu

Rajend Naidu

18/10/2017 10:42:54 am

Editor,
Military Responsible For Crisis
Rex Tillerson, the US Secretary of State says Myanmar's military leadership is responsible for the Rohingya crisis ( abc 19/10 ).
No body acquainted with Myanmar's history and politics would be surprised by what Tillerson says. Myanmar's military leadership has a history of roguish behaviour and brutality and persecution. They have been conducting themselves in that manner towards people who they regard as their own.
The Rohingya Muslims are people they do not regard as their own. Over 500,000 have been driven out of the country.
You can draw your own conclusion from that.
Sincerely,
Rajend Naidu

Rajend Naidu

18/10/2017 04:00:29 pm

Editor,
Abuse of Power
PBS NewsHour ( 19/10 ) Hari Sriniwasan interviews actress/photographer Katherine Kendall in this segment on her sex harassment encounter with movie mogul Harvey Weinstein.
She gives a very candid account of what Weinstein did to her back in 1993 when she was young 22 year old actress.
She said the abusive encounter damaged her confidence.
Abuse of power can take many forms. Weinstein represents the sexual kind.
People in Fiji are familiar with the political kind.
Sincerely,
Rajend Naidu

Welcome Home

18/10/2017 10:44:10 pm

'Abuse of Power'? Yes, most familiar with that under every guise imaginable and not only in Fiji. But Fiji provides the most recent and terrifying example. There are those who are prepared to kill to achieve their ends and they ensure their cowardly methods are masked, covert and not easily verifiable. Those who are party to criminal conduct of this nature span many areas of life, are of all ethnicities but are mostly deemed to be male. Their religious allegiance is irrelevant since murder or attempted murder is forbidden in the canon of most religions. In Malta this week, a mainly Catholic country, assassination has been successful: of a leading woman investigative journalist who was aware of egregious and widespread corruption. In Fiji, there are many who are complicit in similar, deeply entrenched corruption. Their abuse of power permits their benefitting from every form imaginable of pillage. "Rape and Pillage" - the methods used by the Roman Legions in difficult terrain well outside the ambit of Roman Law. There are 264 rape cases queuing for attention in the Fiji Courts currently Justice Temo remarked this week. The Duty to Inform and to Warn is fundamental in a Democracy. As essential as the Duty to Protect. Harvey Weinstein sad to say has many emulators in Fiji. The Fiji Courts prove so almost daily. Turning a blind eye or one's back to this home truth is a luxury that will prove profoundly costly in both the short and the long term.
Alfred Hitchcock now joins Harvey Weinstein in global exposure for his bullying and serious sexual harassment.They abound in Fiji at all levels these selfish, misogynistic, potentially violent men. Remember the middle aged Japanese lady in Labasa back-slapped, fended off to the ground by the most senior civil (?) servant in Vanua Levu at that time and having to seek attention in hospital? For simply seeking advice. Ugly! Unforgettable and Unpardonable. It is high time to call them All Out.

Chiku

19/10/2017 11:34:47 pm

Did Faiyaaz the man who talks about high public office holders needing to display very high standard comment on this abhorrent conduct by the " most senior civil servant " in Vanua Levu ?
If not, why not?

Welcome Home

23/10/2017 09:29:35 pm

Slowly, very slowly the layers of impunity through immunity unravel. The power of piercing 'The Silence' is shaking: the lawyers' imposed Non-Disclosure Agreements for employees working in Miramax and Weinstein Companies: next the cabal of alleged corruption around Malta PM Joseph Muscat. Sexual Assaults, humiliation and abuse of power in the workplace are globally being exposed. This relentless pressure must continue until the thuggery and threats of physical and psychological harm are removed from daily life especially in the workplace and in the home. Think of an onion and of how its layers may be systematically and carefully eased and removed. Slowly those who facilitated and benefitted but chose silence are coming forward to reveal the crimes they have been subjected and witness to. They worked for monsters! Notice the physical attributes especially the eyes of these depraved satyrs: they know, many of them, what they have become and it shows especially in the eyes of the soul. Neither are they solely male for many have enticed their family members and their female assistants into their webs of greed, lust and deceit. The tide is turning and even actor Tom Hanks considers it a Sea Change for Hollywood. Dreamworks shot their production 'Castaway' in Fijiover two years from 2003.

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