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A Maltese court sentenced brothers Alfred and George Degiorgio to 40 years each on October 14, following their guilty plea for their role as hitmen in the assassination of Malta’s leading investigative journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia in 2017.
Representatives from CPJ, Article 19 Europe, the European Centre for Press and Media Freedom, the European Federation of Journalists, the International Press Institute, and Reporters Without Borders were present at court to monitor proceedings and hear the unprecedented guilty pleas and subsequent sentencing, which came just a few days before the fifth anniversary of Caruana Galizia’ assassination.
Separately, in the United States, a district judge last week barred police from accessing electronic devices used by Las Vegas Review-Journal reporter Jeff German before his fatal stabbing in September – but only for a while.
CPJ’s Katherine Jacobsen, who visited the Review Journal newspaper in Las Vegas and attended a court hearing in the ongoing battle to access German’s devices, wrote a briefing on the legal battle over German’s devices, why they need to be protected, and why it is concerning that they are still in police custody.
- Rafael Emiro Moreno, Colombian journalist under government protection, killed in Córdoba
- Indian authorities prevent Pulitzer-winning Kashmiri journalist Sanna Irshad Mattoo from flying abroad
- Four staff members of Nicaragua’s La Prensa charged with conspiracy, two in detention
- SOTA, one of the last independent news outlets in Russia, doubles down on coverage
- CPJ condemns 10-year prison sentence for Tajik journalist Daler Imomali
- Vietnamese journalist Huynh Thuc Vy beaten, choked by prison guards
- South African court bans Independent Media outlets from publishing leaked intelligence report
- Zimbabwean journalists assaulted, harassed, and blocked from covering events
- CPJ submits reports on Tunisia, Algeria, and Morocco to United Nations’ Universal Periodic Review
Spotlight
On Wednesday, October 26, CPJ’s European Union Representative and Advocacy Manager Tom Gibson will join other press freedom experts in a panel organized by the European Parliament and World Press Photo in Brussels. The panel event concerns journalist safety—specifically for women journalists, online and digital safety, legal support, journalistic networks, physical safety in warzones, and mental health—and will be followed by an interactive round table discussion between the experts and the audience.
Other panelists include Julie Majerczak from Reporters without Borders, Sabah A from Media Defense, Elaine Cobbe from Dart Center for Journalism and Trauma, and Jantine van Herwijnen from Free Press Unlimited. The event is moderated by Sanne Schim van der Loeff of Arena for Journalism in Europe.
- Freedom on the Net 2022: Countering the authoritarian overhaul of the internet — Adrian Shahbaz, Allie Funk, and Kian Vesteinsson, Freedom House
- Indian spy agency bought hardware matching equipment used for Pegasus — Sharad Vyas, Jurre Van Bergen, Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project
- Press freedom violations in Africa — Edzodzi Ahiadou, International Press Institute
- The story that won’t be silenced: Hong Kong freedom of expression report 2022 — International Federation of Journalists
- Who, how, and where killed Lithuanian filmmaker Mantas Kvedaravičius — Dmitry Durnev, Yulia Balakhonova, Proekt in cooperation with Spektr.Press
Explore our database of attacks on the press.
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