The shocking statement by the Minister responsible for broadcasting, Malcolm Paul Agius Galea exposes a Government that is insensitive and completely detached from reality, the Nationalist Party said Friday.

Agius Galea said that he does not believe Daphne Caruana Galizia was murdered because of her work as a journalist and that he does not believe journalists are less safe following the verdict in the trial over her murder.

The Institute of Maltese Journalists (IĠM) said that, on the night of the verdict, there were journalists who were afraid to walk alone to their cars and that fear spread through newsrooms. For a Labour Government Minister to attempt to downplay this reality is not only insensitive - it is shameful, the PN said.

Worse still, rather than apologise for these comments, Agius Galea later wrote on Facebook that he regretted it if he had hurt anyone, but at no point did he state that he did not truly believe what he had previously said, the PN said.

"While our journalists are today living through this reality, this morning, ironically, Robert Abela's Government refused to discuss the Opposition's Motion calling for the immediate implementation of the recommendations of the Public Inquiry into the assassination of Daphne Caruana Galizia, which include, among other things, specific recommendations aimed at protecting journalists," the PN said.

The same public inquiry concluded that all the evidence before it pointed towards an intrinsic or direct link with the investigative work carried out by Daphne.

A government that ignores journalists' fears and refuses to discuss their protection is not a government defending journalism. It is a government that has learnt nothing from the assassination of Daphne Caruana Galizia, the PN said

This is the same Government that was found responsible for creating the culture of impunity that led to the assassination of a journalist. Nothing has changed, it added.

The PN said it will continue to insist on immediate action to ensure that every journalist in Malta can investigate, question and carry out their work without intimidation or fear.