WASHINGTON—On World Press Freedom Day 2018, Helsinki Commission Chairman Sen. Roger Wicker (MS) issued the following statement:
“With the recent murders of Daphne Caruana Galizia of Malta and Jan Kuciak of Slovakia, we are reminded of just how deadly serious investigative reporting can be,” said Sen. Wicker. “Investigative journalists play an indispensable role in bringing light to the dark world of corruption. I urge the governments of Malta and Slovakia to make every effort to discover who ordered the killing of these courageous reporters.”
Caruana Galizia was a journalist known for her investigations into international organized crime and its connection to Malta. She probed Maltese citizenship sales, money laundering, and sanctions evasion. Throughout her career, she dealt with intimidation and threats by those who sought to silence her. She was murdered in Malta on October 16, 2017 by a bomb planted under the seat of her rental car.
Several people have been arrested in connection with the bombing, but those who ordered her assassination remain at large. Even after her death, people in and close to the Government of Malta continue to pursue the same legal actions against her that were clearly intended to silence her in life. The Daphne Project, coordinated and led by Forbidden Stories, seeks to follow the leads she left behind and to finish her work.
Kuciak investigated financial crimes, organized crime, and high-level corruption in Slovakia. He was investigating the influence of organized crime on the Slovakian government when he was executed in his home on February 25, 2018 with his fiancée, Martina Kusnirova. Although there have been no arrests in the case, public protests have led to the resignation of senior government officials, including the Prime Minister. Major Slovakian papers published Kuciak’s unfinished story, ensuring that his investigation did not die with him.
On May 9 at 3:30 p.m. in the Capitol Visitor Center, Room SVC 215, the U.S. Helsinki Commission will hold a staff-led briefing titled “A Deadly Calling: The Murder of Investigative Journalists,” which will examine these murders, their aftermath, and the need for greater protections of press freedom around the world.
