People hold photos of killed journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia during a protest called by Galizia's family and civic movements on November 29, 2019, outside the prime minister’s office in Valletta, Malta. (Photo by AFP).

#EndImpunity: Maltese court sentences hitmen to 40 years each for role in assassination of Daphne Caruana Galizia

The Torch is a weekly newsletter from the Committee to Protect Journalists that brings you the latest press freedom and journalist safety news from around the world. Subscribe here.

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.

Global press freedom updates

  • 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.

Register for the panel here.

What we are reading

Explore our database of attacks on the press.

Do you have an Amazon Alexa-enabled device? Enable CPJ's flash briefing skill to stay up to date with the latest press freedom news from around the world.