Not our case

Murders of journalists in Europe are a sign that their publications can change a lot

Journalists are also being killed in Europe. Perhaps this fact will become a habitual excuse on the part of Russian officials in response to criticism about pressure on the media and a number of unsolved crimes committed against journalists in Russia.

Indeed, several journalists have been killed in Europe recently, and in some cases the work of investigators raises questions.

Last October, Daphne Caruana Galizia was killed in Malta. Her car was blown up near her home. Daphne Galizia was a member of the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) and dealt with many potentially dangerous topics: she studied offshore companies associated with high-ranking Maltese officials, and the “golden visa” program - obtaining a Maltese passport in exchange for investments, was interested in the cash transactions of the children of the President of Azerbaijan through a Maltese bank, and also investigated the topic of fuel smuggling, which was carried out through the Maltese structures by merchants from Libya and the Sicilian mafia.

After Daphne's death, journalists from 15 countries created a project in her name to continue her investigations. At the end of last year, the Maltese police arrested 10 suspects in connection with the murder. But the family of Caruana Galizia said that not a single person whose activities Daphne was investigating was detained. “A number of possible accomplices in the crime are still under political cover and evading responsibility,” the family said in a statement, which was quoted by The New York Times.

In February of this year, journalist Jan Kuciak was killed in Slovakia along with his girlfriend. He studied the tax schemes of businessmen associated with the Italian criminal group - 'Ndrangheta - and major Slovak politicians. The assassination led to mass protests and the resignation of the government. Kuciak was a partner in the Center for the Study of Corruption and Organized Crime (OCCRP).

The investigation into this murder was not without strange incidents. Czech journalist Pavla Holtsova, Kuciak’s colleague at OCCRP, was invited to a “friendly conversation” at the Slovak police, and during the conversation, threatening with a large fine, they confiscated her phone in order to gain access to her correspondence and contacts. The International Press Institute, OCCRP and many European politicians protested these actions.

A few days ago, journalist Victoria Marinova was killed in Bulgaria - her body was found in a city park, she was robbed and raped. Marinova is the host of the Rusa TV channel, which recently launched the Detector program and invited two investigative journalists - OCCRP participants: Dimitar Stoyanov from the Bulgarian Bivol and Attila Biro from the Romanian RISE. They reported on massive corruption in Bulgarian projects receiving money from the European Union. In September they were detained by the Bulgarian police for seven hours. The detention was harsh - journalists were thrown to the ground and threatened with weapons because they were interested in the destroyed documents of one of the companies that received European money for infrastructure projects.

In no country in the world do investigative journalists have idyllic relationships with authorities, politicians and businessmen. But it is unlikely that the murders of journalists in Europe will remain uninvestigated in the same way as in Russia. Yes, and the motives of those who ordered the murders are different.

Our officials and businessmen are well aware that even after the most revealing publication, they have nothing to fear - there will be no criminal case, no indignation in parliament, and state-controlled television will ignore uncomfortable news. But at the same time, there is also a category of inadequate characters who react sharply to publications and try to take revenge on journalists. And not only because they are not accustomed to public criticism, but also because they know that not a single attack on a journalist has been finally solved, not a single high-ranking mastermind of the crime has suffered, even when the names of these masterminds are well known.

In Europe, things are a little different. Yes, officials and entrepreneurs, especially in Eastern Europe, are still not very different from ours, but a revealing publication can lead to parliamentary hearings, a criminal case with the freezing of bank accounts, and a resounding resignation. And most importantly, they will look for those who ordered the murder of journalists, and sooner or later they will be found.