CPJ joined other press freedom and freedom of expression organizations today in welcoming a resolution condemning the lack of progress in determining responsibility for the October 16, 2017, car bomb killing of Maltese investigative journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia.
The resolution, which requires the Maltese government to launch an independent public inquiry into the killing within three months, was issued yesterday by the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, the human rights-focused legislative arm of the 47-nation organization. It was accompanied by a report by Special Rapporteur Pieter Omtzigt, a Dutch minister of parliament who was appointed to lead the case last year, as CPJ reported at the time.
Caruana Galizia was a prominent investigative journalist and blogger who reported on alleged official corruption and ties between the Maltese and Azerbaijani governments, according to CPJ research.
The resolution passed in a vote of 72 delegates in favor, 18 against, and three abstentions after two delegates from Malta and four from Azerbaijan spoke against the report, according to a video of the proceedings posted by the Council of Europe.
