Corinne Vella, the sister of assassinated journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia, has hit back at what she described as an ongoing disinformation campaign targeting her family following Yorgen Fenech’s acquittal.Speaking at a PACE hearing in Paris today, Vella said members of the Caruana Galizia family had previously been accused of being complicit in Daphne’s murder, with new claims now suggesting they are speaking in defence of former government chief of staff Keith Schembri.“We do not speak in his favour. We have no reason to,” Vella said.She explained that Matthew Caruana Galizia’s comments about Fenech were based on the evidence the family had seen, arguing that Fenech remains the strongest theory for who is criminally responsible for Daphne’s murder.Vella said Fenech represents the furthest point reached by the investigation in establishing a chain of command, while arguing that he himself had not provided reliable evidence implicating anyone else.Fenech has accused Schembri of being the mandator behind the murder, but Vella said no evidence had been brought forward to investigators that would establish Schembri’s criminal involvement.She stressed that any gaps in the investigation cannot be attributed to the Caruana Galizia family.“Deficiencies in the investigation are not our responsibility,” she said, calling on anyone with evidence of another person’s involvement to bring it forward. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Lovin Malta (@lovinmalta)Vella also warned that last week’s verdict had strengthened what she described as Malta’s “culture of impunity”.She said the family had themselves had to reassess their understanding of the case as new evidence emerged, while the public had also had ample opportunity to review evidence presented during the proceedings.According to Vella, the culture of impunity that enabled Daphne’s murder was documented through the public inquiry, rather than being merely the family’s opinion.She argued that the acquittal has had consequences extending beyond the Caruana Galizia family.Before the verdict, she said, there remained a possibility that the case could mark an end to impunity for the murder of a journalist.That possibility disappeared with the acquittal, she said.Vella pointed to a statement issued by journalists following the verdict, saying reporters had described feeling uneasy as they walked to their cars after the decision.She argued that this demonstrates the wider chilling effect of the verdict on journalists and press freedom.“When Daphne was alive, we lived in a country where a journalist could be killed because of their work,” Vella said. “When she was killed, we became a country in which a journalist has been killed.”She stressed that the implications of the case extend beyond Malta, arguing that what happens in Malta also affects the wider European community.Addressing questions surrounding who may have wanted Daphne dead, Vella said the family had no doubt that several people wanted her killed.She specifically said they had no doubt that Schembri wanted Daphne dead, but stressed the distinction between wanting someone dead and taking action to have them killed.The former, she said, amounts to moral responsibility, while the latter can amount to criminal responsibility that can lead to prosecution and conviction.Malta has now failed to convict Fenech, Vella said, but maintained that this does not exonerate him in the family’s view.“If anyone has evidence about anybody else, they should bring it forward,” she said. “But that does not exonerate Fenech.”What do you make of this?Credit: PACE TV•