The Daphne Festival marks the fifth anniversary since the assassination of investigative journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia.

When Daphne Caruana Galizia was assassinated in October 2017, she had 47 open libel cases against her, highlighting the pressure of legal threats against investigative journalists. In the five years since, movements have sprung up across Europe to tackle SLAPPs (strategic lawsuits against public participation) leading to the creation of an EU Anti-SLAPP Directive and a commitment from the UK government to bring in legislative reform.

This event will explore the rise of these anti-SLAPP movements – including CASE and UK Anti-SLAPP Coalition – the impact of SLAPPs on those subject to them as well as the potential cost to our societies if we do not defend against them.

Chair: Ruth Smeeth, CEO of Index on Censorship

Speakers:

– Corinne Vella is the sister of Daphne Caruana Galiza. She leads The Daphne Caruana Galizia Foundation’s media relations and edits Taste & Flair, the monthly magazine which Daphne founded in 2004 and which the Foundation has continued to publish.

– Clare Rewcastle Brown, Investigative journalist and founder of the Sarawak Report and Radio Free Sarawak, subject to SLAPP cases both in the UK and Malaysia related to her reporting that uncovered the 1MDB scandal.

– Caroline Kean, Media Defence Lawyer and Founding Partner of law firm Wiggin, acted for HarperCollins in the cases brought against the publisher and their authors the journalists Catherine Belton and Tom Burgis.

– Susan Coughtrie, Deputy Director of the Foreign Policy Centre, co-chair of the UK Anti-SLAPP Coalition and lead author of the report ‘London Calling’: The issue of legal intimidation and SLAPPs against media emanating from the United Kingdom.

– Franz Wild, Editor of the Enablers Project at The Bureau of Investigative Journalism, which together with openDemocracy are currently crowdfunding to mount a defence against libel suits they are currently facing in the UK.

Watch the event here: