International coalition of media and transparency groups have called on EU leaders to ‘put pressure on Malta’s PM to quit immediately’
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Malta’s prime minister, Joseph Muscat, is facing renewed pressure to quit immediately as EU leaders are urged to take a stand on the “desperate” situation in the country at a summit this week.
Muscat, who is under fire over his role in the investigation into the murder of the journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia, plans to attend a regular summit of EU leaders in Brussels on Thursday and Friday.
The embattled leader has promised to stand down in January after his Labour party has elected a replacement, despite calls from protesters in Malta and MEPs that he should go sooner.
Now, in an open letter to European Union leaders, a coalition of media and transparency groups have called on them to take a stand in the case.
“Our organisations now call on European Union leaders to urge prime minister Muscat to guarantee that all investigations and legal proceedings will be conducted impartially, promptly and effectively, and without any involvement or influence at all from any individual potentially implicated in the case,” states the letter signed by 12 groups including the European Centre for Press and Media Freedom, Reporters without Borders, and Transparency International.
