The government, through the Attorney General, today gave its first reaction to the letter sent to the Maltese High Commission in London on 9 August by British legal company Bhatt Murphy which complained about the way the investigation of Daphne Caruana Galizia’s murder is being conducted and alleged that the Maltese Government is breaching the European Convention of Human Rights.
In an interim reply, the government made it clear that it assumes its responsibilities as dictated by the European Convention of Human Rights with outright seriousness and assured Bhatt Murphy and the Caruana Galizia family of this.
On 9 August, the family of assassinated journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia called for a full public inquiry into her death. And should the call for a public inquiry be refused by the Maltese government, the family said it is prepared to take the case to the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg.
In a statement issued via the Department of Information, the government expressed its disappointment at the fact that the legal opinion issued by this legal company included a number of false allegations, baseless insinuations, and incorrect information.
In its letter, the Maltese Government stressed that the magistrate who is leading the inquiry on the murder of Ms Caruana Galizia has absolute liberty to do and investigate all that is necessary without fear or favour in the carrying out of his duty.
The government emphasised that the judiciary in Malta is independent and this investigation has been given the most resources in Malta’s law-enforcing history. Three suspects have already been brought to court accused of committing this crime and investigations as to who else was involved are ongoing.
The police force and the security services are dedicating significant resources to this case, however, one cannot expect these authorities to continously comment in public about their work, the government said.
The Maltese authorities are also collaborating closely with international authorities and, recently, Europol’s Executive Director publicly clarified a statement issued by her predecessor about international cooperation in this investigation.
The government showed its disappointment with the fact that these British lawyers consider it to be the enemy of the Caruana Galizia family. The government has simply worked diligently with international partners in the law enforcement sector to ensure those responsible for this crime face justice.
It is rather natural to have an element of frustration at the fact that the investigation is taking its time. However, this is not abnormal in complicated investigations such as this.
The Government reserves the right to provide another reply to the letter of the British lawyers and stated that it was sending this interim reaction only because the lawyers insisted on having an immediate answer in August.
Government letter