Over two days, seven members of the European Parliament travelled to Malta on a fact-finding mission to assess the progress of the inquiry into the murder of the journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia and the situation of the rule of law. The Socialists and Democrats in the European Parliament backed this fact-finding mission.

Upon her return to Brussels, S&D MEP Birgit Sippel, who took part in the parliamentary mission, said:

“The situation in Malta is very delicate because there has been a horrible crime and it must be resolved. On our mission, we saw that there is a very strong demand for transparency by Maltese citizens and it is important to provide the facts. Therefore, we need independent and non-politicised information.

“Before we make any judgement we must let the police - both the Maltese police and Europol – as well as the judicial authorities, finish their job so that the whole truth comes out. We fully support the demand for transparency, bearing in mind that some investigations might require a certain level of confidentiality. Notwithstanding that, all those who have been responsible or accomplice to the murder must pay for their crime.

“We also support the judicial reforms recommended by the Venice Commission of the Council of Europe, and we expect the European Commission to assess the progress being made by Malta in this regard. The S&D Group and the European Parliament will continue monitoring the situation. Our Group will always support and defend the respect of the rule of law in every member state.”