A society without free media is a fake democracy – Francis Zammit Dimech

“Societies need to defend journalists and ensure press freedom if they are to be honest with themselves. Having a society without media operating in full liberty is nothing more than a fake democracy,” MEP Francis Zammit Dimech remarked in a European Parliament plenary session in Strasbourg.

Earlier in the day the European Parliament adopted, with a large majority, a resolution on media pluralism and media freedom in the European Union, which outlined concerns about the state of media freedom in Malta. Zammit Dimech said that it was also symbolic to take such a vote on the day that marks Press Freedom Day, thus sending a clear message to all member states.

“Today we remember those journalists like Daphne Caruana Galizia and Jan Kuciak and many others who were eliminated because they were not afraid of seeking the truth and who were determined to investigate what others wanted to hide from society,” added Zammit Dimech. He reiterated that attacks on journalists were not solely attacks on them but also an attack on society in general and an attack on the rights of EU citizens, as when journalists are eliminated, citizens are deprived of information which concerns them.

Zammit Dimech argued that “when journalists, such as those who are continuing on the investigative work of Daphne Caruana Galizia through the Daphne Project, unveil wrongdoing and corruption at the highest levels of government, the more we start to realise how much we need to have a free press. In such cases, we also start to appreciate more the important role journalists play in scrutinising public administration, especially in member states like Malta, where institutions fail to protect the rights of citizens.” Here he referred, in particular, to the revelation that Maltese citizens were paying €40 million extra per year for gas because of a deal negotiated between Prime Minister Joseph Muscat, his chief of staff Keith Schembri and Minister Konrad Mizzi on behalf of the Maltese government, with the Azerbaijani state-owned company SOCAR. Zammit Dimech added that it was shameful that, when faced with scrutiny by the press, member states like Malta were attempting to discredit journalists, something that did not reflect European values.”

In the past weeks, MEP Zammit Dimech was rapporteur on behalf of the EPP Group for the report on Press Freedom within the committee responsible for media. He also presented an amendment to a report within the Legal Affairs Committee relating to the prohibition of strategic lawsuits against public participation (SLAPP) within the European Union, which was adopted and incorporated in the final report. The Maltese government has turned down an amendment presented by the Nationalist Opposition in the Maltese Parliament to prohibit the use of SLAPP.