A Scottish MP has filed an urgent motion, calling on the Scottish Parliament to send a message to Malta’s Prime Minister Joseph Muscat that the investigation into the assassination of journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia must be carried out openly and transparently. 

The parliamentary motion, filed by MP James Dornan from Nicola Sturgeon’s ruling SNP, says that  Caruana Galizias family should be treated with respect, kept informed of any developments with the investigation and should at no point be left in the dark.

“We urge the Maltese government and Joseph Muscat to keep to their reported promises of conducting an open and transparent murder inquiry,” the motion reads. “Some of the investigative processes have so far been reportedly less than transparent, which is completely unacceptable, and we urge the international community to continue monitoring proceedings with impartiality.”

Dornan filed the motion today, three months to the date Caruana Galizia was assassinated in a car bomb outside her house in Bidnija. 

“We believe that freedom of speech is a human right; considers that investigative journalism is a tool used in almost every country to hold government and leadership to account, and that journalists across the world should be free to practice their profession without fear, or threat, to their personal safety or wellbeing,” the motion reads.

BBC journalist John Sweeney, who recently interviewed Joseph Muscat, described the motion as an excellent one, to which Dornan responded he had been inspired by Sweeney’s interview with Malta’s Prime Minister.

Last month, London law firm Doughtry Street Chambers contracted by Daphne Caruana Galizia’s family warned the manner of the murder investigation has placed Malta in “flagrant violation” of the European Convention of Human Rights. The law firm also rapped the Maltese police for failing to update the family about the investigation – forcing them to learn about developments in “grossly inappropriate ways”, such as from the press and Twitter accounts of politicians. However, judge Silvio Meli – who is presiding over the Caruana Galizia family’s case to remove deputy police commissioner Silvio Valletta from the investigation – brushed off this legal advice as “neo-colonialist”. 

What do you make of this latest development? 

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Tim Diacono

Tim is interested in the rapid evolution of human society and is passionate about justice, human rights and cutting-edge political debates. You can follow him on Instagram or Twitter/X at @timdiacono or reach out to him at [email protected]