EU+CoE stress Daphne Murder link to Press Freedom+Anti-Corruption:+Malta needs European Supervision?

*Strasbourg/Angelo Marcopolo/- Both EU Parliament in Brussels and CoE in Strasbourg, this week, linked WebNews Investigative Journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia's Murder with the Freedom of Journalism Day, and this was Extended further to the PanEuropean Organisation's Anti-Corruption Fight, as mirrored in its specialized Watchdog, "GRECO"'s Annual Report Publication, Critical on National Judges and Prosecutors, who need Supervision, according to CoE's a.o. Findings.

 

 - Democracy needs for Journalists and Medias to be able to work in a Free, Safe and Independent Environment, acting as Guardians for the respect of Rule of Law, reportedly stressed EU Parliament's President, Antonio Tajani, at Press Freedom Day, (while receiving a Symbolic Artwork from a Maltese Artist and the Murdered Journalist's Parents), vowing to Not Stop until Efficient Investigations Find the Mastermind of that Brutal Killing and Justice is done.

 - President Tajani, who has already Expressed to "Eurofora" his Readiness to Cooperate with the CoE in the Investigation of Daphne's Brutal Murder, (See: http://www.eurofora.net/newsflashes/news/euparliamentpresidentoncoeandjournalistmurder.html), will soon find a Useful Help in "Heavy Weight" MEP Peter Omtzigt, a mainstream, Hyper-Active ChristianDemocrat/EPP Dutch MEP that CoE Assembly's Legal/Human Rights Committee has just Elected as special Rapporteur for that Crime, Last Week in Strasbourg.

 

However, an UnExpected Problem for Omtzigt will, probably, be what really looks as a possible Cover Attempt to ... "HiJack" Daphne's Murder by precisely those who used to ... Censor her !

Indeed, Daphne had been Pushed, by a Systematic Censorship from her former Mainstream Newspapers of the Establishement, (mainly her "Weekly" Column at Malta's "Times", after DeParting from the "Independent", etc, which did Not Publish her Critical Investigation Findings, because they were "Pressured" by a Socialist Government and its Cronies, who Threatened, inter alia, to Cut Paid Adds, as the Victim's Son, Paul, Denounced to "Eurofora" : something that even mainstream "Economist" evokes), towards the Creation of a Website News Media at the Internet, where she could Freely Publish what she Believed Necessary, as a Real Journalist, i.e. Conscious of her Duty to the People and the Society, and Independent-minded, already as early as since 2008.

Nevertheless, a Loud Publicity was Recently made about a Group of Exclusively ... Mainstream Traditional Medias of the Establishment, including even her own usual Censor : the "Times of Malta" (sic !), added to an omni-presence of Notoriously pro-"Socialist" Newspapers, (such as, f.ex., UK's "Guardian" USA's "New York Times", "Le Monde", "la Repubblica", etc), i.e. of the Same Political color as that of her Main Target in her Anti-Corruption Fight : the current "Socialist" Government of Malta, which Claimed to form an Exclusive Group supposed to Dominate, Worldwide, with a quasi-Monopoly on "Press Investigations" about her case...  

That's obviously Turning things Upside-Down, since Daphne's real Fight was notoriously led Thanks only to her Independent Web-News Site, Far Away from any Establishment's Media :  The Only one to Guarantee her Freedom to Publish the Articles that she Believed Necessary for the Society, and in order to "Express the Opinion of others who don't have a Platform", so that her "Voice" becomes "the Voice of our Audience" (i.e. of the People, and Not Depending from the Paycheck of a Shady or even Corrupted "Boss"), as she Wrote herself, just before her Murder.

That's precisely why some Hostile Mobs had brandissed Placards with Insults against Daphne accusing her to be a..."Blogger" (as Collegues Journalists Denounced : See relevant Photo).

And Politically, she was notoriously Opposed not only to Malta's "Socialist" Party, but even to those "RINOS" (as they are usually called in the USA) inside the Right, who were suspected to Seek a kind of "GroKo" or Complicity Between the Left and the Right sides of that Establishment, (something that f.ex. French former Long-Time President Jacques Chirac strived to Avoid, by Sacrificing 2 Years of his Presidential Mandate in order to Escape from any Repetition of an abhorred "Co-Habitation" with "Socialists", Contrary to what he had been Obliged to do in the Past)...

It's Good that, at last, some Collegues even from Mainstream, Traditional Medias of the Establishment, including several Socialists or other Left, suddenly Claimed to Seek to Help Defend the Memory of an Anti-Establishment Collegue, publishing for a Decade at an Independent, Web News Media, that she had Created and Used herself, in order to be Free to Publish, as a Real Journalist, what she Believed necessary for the Society, and in order to give an Expression to Voiceless People (as she wrote : Comp. Supra), in her Investigative and Critical Articles, withOut being Disfigured or Censored by any Shady, Abusive or Coward, if not even Corrupted "Boss", to whose PayCheck she would be EnSlaved, and Depending, having to Obey to his Orders, as in her Past. As well as to Claim that they will Help the Enquiry to Find and Punish those Responsible for her Brutal Murder.

But, Where were They, when Daphne was Censored, for Years, by one of their likes (Comp. Supra) ? Why did they Abandoned her Alone to Face a Long Series of Personal Attacks in the Courts by Powerful Political Opponents sueing her for "Libell" ? Where was their "Help" when she and her Family had to Face even several Harassments, Insults, various Aggressions, Threats, etc., culminating up to her Killing ?

In Fact, it's Obvious that any Credible (and Efficient) Collective Attempt to seriously Help to Search, Find and Punish those who are mainly Responsible for Daphne's Horrible Assassination, canNot Really Exist withOut, at least, the Active Participation of New, Independent and Critical, Non-Establishment Web News Medias, more or less Similar to her's, and, at any case, Inspired by the Same main Values, Ethic and Principles of what is Real Journalism's Mission in nowadays Society, and its Duty vis a vis the People and Democracy, that she explicitly Defended, (according even to ECHR's well known Case-Law under Article 10) also just a few Days Before her Violent Death, (Comp. Supra + http://www.eurofora.net/newsflashes/news/webjournalistmurder.html).

+ Particularly when her 3 Sons, Andrew, Mathew and Paul Caruana-Galizia, in an Article exceptionally Published this week Together with CoE's Anti-Corruption Watchdog "GRECO"'s Annual Report, Denounce mainly the Fact that "Investigative Journalists .. have No Prosecutorial Powers .... Their work can have immediate Effects on the Corrupt, Where Press Freedoms are Strong, and Law Enforcement Authorities are Independent from central Governments and Private Interests".

 - "But in Countries where there is No Will or Capacity to Prosecute the Corrupt Figures they Expose, Journalists often become Targets themselves", and even "the State's full Force is brough down, Not on the Corrupt, But on the Journalists and WhistleBlowers who Bring their Corruption to Light", they Warn. Thus, f.ex., "statisticsshow us that a Journalist is Murdered when institutions Fail to Investigate corruption, when they Fail to Prosecute it, and when they fail to deter it in the first place. The Murder of journalists betrays Institutional Failure, and Extreme levels of corruption".

By a Coincidence, CoE has just Started on 2018 to Check the Law Enforcement Authorities of about 50 Countries, (including Malta's, where Daphne's Family has already expressed their Distrust vis a vis several Members of the Local Police, particularly when "Reuters" and Other Medias reported that Someone had Warned the 3 Suspects for the Brutal Killing of their Mother, Before they were Arrested, so that they had enough Time in order to Hide several Material Proof items).

But concerning the Key role of Prosecutors (Comp. Supra) and Judges, CoE's Anti-Corruption Body, "GRECO", has Already Completed a Full Overview, during Recent Years : Until 2017, which was just Published Today.   

- "GRECO" "includes Media" and "Civil Society" "in its site Visits, as an Important Window", because Several among them "Work tirelessly to Espose Corrupt and DisHonest Behaviours", reminded that CoE Body's President, Marin Mrcela, vice-Chair of the Supreme Court of Croatia, (the InComing CoE's Chair from Mid-May up to November 2018). "Paying Tribute to the ...FearLess Woman, Daphne ... : the Maltese Journalist was Brutaly Murdered, and whose Investigations Focused, precisely, on Corruption Issues", Mrcela stressed that "her Legacy, and the Work of Other Investigative Journalists should be Supported and Encouraged, as Transparency is Key to Accountability".

- But, precisely, "2017 was a "Dark Year"” for Anti-Corruption", Because "Many Allegations ... in public and private organisations have Eroded people's Trust in them", while "Judges have been Dismissed or Imprisoned and the independent and impartial work of many Prosecutors has been Undermined; Election campaigns have been Polluted,...and Journalists ...have been Silenced, Imprisoned or Killed", Denounced "GRECO"s President.    

     
- In order to Fight Against that phenomenon, concerning, in particular, Prosecutors and Judges, we should Not "Over-Rely on the Repressive aspects of Fighting Corruption, too often Underestimating the Strength and Effectiveness of Preventive mechanisms", he points out from the outset.

- Among them, it's Mainly "the NEED FOR SUPERVISION, and Enforcement of the Legislative framework" where it's already "in place", that is "Actually" a "Concern area", in relation with "the Actual Implementation of Existing Rules", GRECO's President Denounced.

Indeed, according to the Facts revealed Today in GRECO's Annual Report, while, f.ex., "Prosecutors" had "Implemented" More CoE's "Recommendations" than Judges. Nevertheless, It's also PROSECUTORS who Needed much More "Supervision and Enforcement" of Standards, as well as "Ethical principles and Rules of Conduct", than Judges, reveal CoE's Statistics.

JUDGES, on the Contrary, while them too Needing some Checks, (more for "Supervision", and comparatively less for "Ethical Principles"), nevertheless, they Faced the Most Risks of Corruption in the area of their "Recruitement, Career, and Conditions of Work", GRECO's latest Statistics denounce.

Such Stats do not, however, seem always accurate, neither an absolutely pertinent indication : F.ex., Malta's relevant situation appears, according to GRECO's Statistics, as ...much Better than that of France (sic !), particularly as far as it concerns Prosecutors, while French Judges seem to be in a Catastrophic Situation, with Much More cases of "Not Implemented" Recommendations, than "Partially Implemented", and ... ZERO "Implemented ! It's Hard to Find Worse elsewhere, and everybody knows the Judicial System's obviously Excessive Intereference at the 1st Round of 2017's French Presidential Elections, (Only Belgium having a Similar Situation, concerning Judges), as even Bulgaria and Azerbaijan etc., look Better on GRECO's Stats, (particularly on Prosecutors, with many Recmmendations Implemented)... Those French Stats are, However, Older (from 2016), and it's to Hope that the situation would have been (at least partially) rectified more recently.

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                    
--------------------------


Malta's Socialist Prime Minister Muscat, has Notoriously Boasted, in the thorny case of the Brutal Murder of Daphne, (a consistent Critic of his Policies), that he Invited USA's "FBI" to Help boost the National Investigation.

But this move is Far from Convincing, particularly Nowadays, since, already inside the USA, a large Part of the FBI has Notoriously been Recently Discredited, in the eyes of Many American People, Often Accused to have shown excessive Complacency vis a vis Hillary Clinton's and the Democratic Party's (Left) various "Affairs" in the Past, (including the Non-Elucidated Killing of a WhistleBlower, etc), to have been too much Compromised with former President Barack Hussein Obama, but, on the Contrary, to be Too Intrusive and Aggressive against the New US President, Don Trump, (of the Republican Party's Right), and all his entourage, (Assistants, Counselors, Lawyers, even Family members, and Himself) recently.

+ At the Same Time, Many Critics also Denounced the Fact that, during Recent Years, the FBI has shown a Dangerous Incapacity and/or Indifference into Preventing or Curbing Deadly Islamuist Terrorist and other Attacks cowardly Targetting innocent Civilian People, (among Others, see f.ex. the Case of an Alaska suspect who had Denounced himself that some were Pushing him to Kill for ISIS' aims, But was let Free by the FBI, which even Returned his Gun back, soon before he Actually Kills several Victims in a Florida Airport, etc), while it was, on the Contrary, Eager to Spy on Innocent Christian Organisations and other Critics of former President Obama's Controversial policies on Imposing "Same Sex Marriage" everywhere, Federal Funding of Genetic Manipulations of Human Embryos, Submission of Children to the Power of Homosexuals under "Adoption" Pretext, (etc).

Therefore, Popular Calls to make Big Changes inside the Attorney General, the Courts, and/or the FBI Police departments, (Accused to be part of an UnDemocratic "Deep State"), have Notoriously Multiplied, recently, in the USA, so that, in such conditions, it couldn't  Change, but Stagnate the Establishment, while also Facing People's DisTrust.

=> Given all the above-mentioned Circumstances, it, therefore, Becomes Obvious that what might Help Ameliorate the relevant Situation in Malta, after Daphne's Murder, would rather be a Strong and adequate European Supervision of the Investigations.

It's precisely what the Family of the Brutaly Murdered Journalist demands, right from the Start...