Magistrate Carol Peralta brushed off calls for his resignation saying that what the government and the Nationalist Party were saying was insignificant. He said he will only resign if he is found guilty of abuse of power.

The magistrate was addressing journalists at his Mdina home today to make a statement on what happened on Thursday – when he ordered the arrest of a journalist who was taking a photo of a party held in a courtroom, organised by him.

Prior to the magistrate’s news conference, the PN issued a statement saying that his position is untenable while Parliamentary Secretary Owen Bonnici said that the arrest of a Times’ journalist was abusive, illegal. He also called for the Commission of the Administration of Justice to investigate the magistrate. Alternattiva Demokratika called for the magistrate’s immediate resignation.

Magistrate Peralta said that the Commission for the Administration of Justice should also question the journalist who tried to take photographs of the party, which he said was attended by MPs from both sides of the House. He however would not say who they were. He also pointed out that a number of reporters were present but only mentioned the name of The Times’ court reporter as being present for the party. 

He claimed that he did not know that the person trying to take photographs of the event was a journalist, Ivan Martin, of the Times of Malta. The magistrate said that Mr Martin failed to identify himself twice.

But Mark Micallef, The Times’ news editor, who was present during the news conference held at the magistrate’s home, claimed that he told the magistrate who the individual attempting to snap the pictures was, but despite this, the magistrate continued with his arrest order. Mr Micallef also stated that he went in person to the court room where the party was being held and told the magistrate that he had sent Mr Martin to take pictures. But despite this, Magistrate Peralta kept insinuating that this was a plot against him.

He said that other parties were held in courtrooms but only he had been targeted.

“Why didn’t the reporter pay a visit to the other parties that were held in other court rooms on the same day, and before,” the magistrate asked, adding that a court member of staff had spotted an individual “spying” on the party and asked him inside.

The magistrate claimed that a member of staff made him aware of what was going on and when he asked Mr Martin who he was and what he was doing, the reporter failed to identify who he was twice, only to reply ‘I am a nobody’.

The journalist was later released, but the incident sparked a series of statements that condemned the magistrate’s behaviour, with parliamentary secretary Owen Bonnici requesting the Commission for the Administration of Justice to investigate the incident.

 

Asked if he was approached by the Chief Justice ever since the incident happened, Magistrate Peralta replied in the negative.

“I want the Commission to investigate the matter so that the truth will come out: who was behind this and his/her intentions,” he said.

Magistrate Peralta also pointed out that following the incident, he was contacted by Dr Bonnici who told him to be cautious because it is the “media we are dealing with here”.

Asked if he felt this continued to tarnish the repute of the judiciary, Magistrate Peralta said that this was a party beteeen colleagues, like the rest of other parties that have taken place over the years.

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The Nationalist Party has said that Magistrate Peralta's position is no longer tenable. The magistrate has no other option but to resign.

Alternattiva Demokratka Chairperson, Prof. Arnold Cassola, said: "Magistrate Peralta is a repeat offender.  He built a house illegally in Gozo, he ordered the deportation of his previous foreign ‘housekeeper’ when he had no more use for her, he condoned insults against the gay community so long as one came from the Mellieha area, he stated that foreigners should be sentenced differently from Maltese and yesterday, the abusive arrest of journalist Ivan Martin. 

“People abusing of their power in this way cannot be impartial members of the judiciary.  Magistrate Peralta should simply resign with immediate effect. If he continues sitting in judgement, people might start believing that it is Villa Blye that dictates things in Malta and not the democratically elected representatives of the people".