Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs Democracy, Rule of Law and Fundamental Rights Monitoring Group

Dr Robert Abela Office of the Prime Minister Auberge de Castille Valletta VLT 1061 Malta

Subject: Public inquiry into the assassination of Daphne Caruana Galizia

9 December 2020

Dear Prime Minister Abela,

On December 7th, you signalled to reporters that you do not wish for the Public Enquiry into the murder of Daphne Caruana Galizia to be extended beyond the currently set end date of next week Tuesday December the 15th.

As indicated in our previous letter of 29 September 2020, the Democracy, Rule of Law and Fundamental Rights Monitoring Group of the European Parliament's LIBE Committee believes it is of crucial importance to see the full truth emerge. As highlighted in that letter, the continuation of the Public Enquiry beyond the one-off extension to December 15th would allow for all the elements to be fully assessed. I also wish to add that the family members of Daphne Caruana Galizia are opposed to the looming cut-off date for the Public Enquiry.

I would therefore like to reiterate our request to allow urgently the inquiry to run for as long as needed to fully uncover all relevant elements.

With kind regards,

Sophie in 't Veld, MEP Chair of the Democracy, Rule of Law and Fundamental Rights Monitoring Group (DRFMG) Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs, European Parliament

CC: David-Maria SASSOLI, President of the European Parliament Juan Fernando LÓPEZ AGUILAR, LIBE Chair Aaron ABDILLA, Chef de Cabinet