4 years since the public inquiry into Daphne's assassination, almost nothing has changed

In 2021, the public inquiry into Daphne’s assassination concluded that the Maltese State must shoulder responsibility for her death. But, four years on, almost nothing has changed. The final report was delivered to the Prime Minister on 29 July 2021, but most of its recommendations are still outstanding, leaving journalists at risk.

The purpose of the inquiry was for the State to understand its failures and to learn how it must change to prevent future deaths. This isn’t just a moral choice. It’s a legal obligation: a State has a positive obligation to protect lives.

The public inquiry concluded that the Maltese State must shoulder responsibility for Daphne’s assassination because:

• it failed to protect Daphne when there was a real and immediate risk to her life;.
• it actively increased the dangers which Daphne faced by isolating, dehumanising, financially crippling, and discr - editing her, despite her investigations into government corruption being supported by evidence, as confirmed by the public inquiry.
• The Office of the Prime Minister fostered a culture of impunity that “spread like an octopus” throughout the entire State and its regulatory bodies, enabling those exposed by Daphne’s reporting to retaliate without consequence.
• High-level corruption created a powerful network of interests within government and business that shared a common interest: to “neutralise” Daphne’s reporting and to protect those responsible for her murder.
• The inquiry confirmed that the Office of the Prime Minister led an “orchestrated plan” to undermine the political impact of Daphne’s reporting, a groundbreaking confirmation of the crucial role political propaganda played in her death.
• Based on witness testimony, senior Government officials sought to mislead Police investigators and journalists in the aftermath of Daphne’s assassination, in an effort to help the culprits escape justice and media pressure.

If implemented effectively, the public inquiry’s recommendations could change the face of Maltese democracy, restore the rule of law, heal the country’s trauma, and make Daphne’s the first and last assassination of a journalist in Malta.

A separate briefing note summarises the recommendations of the report of the public inquiry, the current status of their implementation, and our position on each recommendation.