Reporters Without Borders (RSF) has called upon the Maltese authorities for full justice and strong measures to protect journalists, following the new conviction for the murder of Daphne Caruana Galizia.
On Thursday evening, George Degiorgio, Jamie Vella, Adrian Agius, and Robert Agius were all found guilty by a jury in relation to charges on the murders of journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia and lawyer Carmelo Chircop, bringing a six-week trial to an end.
Sentencing will take place before Judge Edwina Grima, who presided over the trial, next Tuesday at 11am.
In a statement on Friday, the RSF urged the Maltese authorities to ramp up efforts toward convicting the mastermind in Caruana Galizia's murder, and to implement the press freedom recommendations resulting from the public inquiry that followed the murder.
"After six weeks of trial and nine hours of deliberation, the jury of Malta's Criminal Court in Valletta delivered its verdict on Thursday, 5 June: Robert Agius and Jamie Vella were found guilty of complicity in the murder of investigative journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia," the RSF said.
It said that the two members of the Maltese gang Ta' Maksar were charged with supplying the bomb that killed the journalist when her car exploded in front of her home on 16 October 2017.
RSF continued that although Robert Agius and Jamie Vella deny the charges, the prosecution is seeking life imprisonment, and the sentence will be pronounced next week.
"The conviction of the bomb suppliers in the murder of Caruana Galizia marks undeniable progress in the quest for justice. But their trial once again highlighted the Maltese state's failure to dismantle - at every stage - the complex scheme devised to kill a journalist, and the difficulty of untangling it in a drawn-out judicial process," the Head of the RSF EU and Balkans Desk Pavol Szalai said.
He said that there are two lessons to be learnt, that the justice system must swiftly proceed toward the conviction of the mastermind behind the murder, and the government must finally implement the recommendations on journalist safety and press freedom that emerged from the public inquiry following the assassination.
The RSF said that three men are already serving sentences for installing and detonating the bomb in Caruana Galizia's vehicle, with the brothers Alfred and George Degiorgio, sentenced to 40 years in prison, and Vincent Muscat, who negotiated a reduced sentence of 15 years in exchange for his testimony, which was also crucial in the trial of Robert Agius and Jamie Vella.
"Although the report from the public inquiry into the murder of Caruana Galizia was published four years ago, the majority of its recommendations regarding journalist safety and press freedom have still not been implemented by the Maltese authorities," the RSF said.