Malta vows better journalist protections, reforms

By KEVIN SCHEMBRI ORLAND

VALLETTA, Malta (AP) — The Maltese government is responding to a critical European human rights evaluation by vowing to soon propose new legislation to better protect journalists in the wake of the 2017 assassination of Daphne Caruana Galizia.The government said Tuesday it was consulting national and international organizations about possible reforms and would present proposed legislation to parliament “in the near future.”The government was responding to a preliminary report from the Council of Europe’s human rights commissioner who made a host of recommendations to better protect the rights of women and journalists in particular after a recent visit to the Mediterranean island nation.