Sarah Clarke PEN International

What is your own impression of the delegation’s visit to Malta?

I would say that we have been shocked by the climate of free expression in Malta, in the heart of the EU. Daphne’s assassination a year ago was horrifying and at the time it seemed like an aberration. After the visit, the level of polarisation in the media is much clearer. There is a certain degree of fear about continuing to report, especially on corruption, about the stories on which Daphne was working. We also found a very worrying level of self-censorship amongst the journalists we met, which was due to a variety of reasons. These included the obvious concerns about open harassment and threats from both high-level authorities and the public, and also a much more pernicious form of pressure in the form of government advertising. We are seeing some preferential treatment in how funds – which is public money – are being allocated to pro-government media. It is an asymmetric situation in which independent voices and media are essentially being isolated, marginalised and financially starved.

Based on your meeting with Prime Minister Joseph Muscat, do you think any of the delegation’s recommendations will be taken up?

The very high degree of international pressure on the government of Malta would need to continue in order to implement these recommendations. The government is under a lot of scrutiny, both in terms of impunity over the assassination and in terms of questions of money-laundering. Three delegations from the European Parliament have visited the country, a Special Rapporteur has been appointed by the Council of Europe to look into the investigation and Malta will be before the United Nations in a month for its periodical human rights reviews, so we feel that this could place significant pressure. However, at this stage we are not confident that the government fully understands the immediacy and urgency of implementing the recommendations and I think it is important to highlight the fact that the country’s international reputation is being extremely tarnished by what is happening.

Critics argue that international delegations who visit Malta can paint a superficial, one-sided picture of the current situation in Malta. Can you comment?

I think our level of criticism is warranted. It is deeply disturbing to see the lack of accountability from the government, to see the repeated destruction of the Daphne protest memorial, and to see impunity in her case. It is extremely unusual within the EU.