A court today rejected a criminal complaint filed by former Minister Manwel Mallia and Dr David Farrugia Sacco against Paul Borg Olivier following a case which dates back to before the last general election.
Dr Mallia and Dr Farrugia had filed a complaint in court against Dr Borg Olivier, who at the time was the Secretary General of the Nationalist Party. The complaint referred to two articles which appeared on the news website owned by the Nationalist Party, “3 esponenti Laburisti involuti fl-iskandlu taz-zejt” and another story titled “Sitt gidbiet mill-MLP.”
Dr Mallia and Dr Farrugia Sacco argued that the articles published were defamatory. The complaint was filed to the police in February of 2013, before the last election. Dr Mallia had initially said that he would seek the imprisonment of Dr Borg Olivier because of the two articles.
In her judgment, Magistrate Josette Demicoli noted that these articles appeared at the peak of an electoral campaign when both Mallia and Farrugia Sacco (photo above) were contesting the general election. The articles were published right after a press conference organised by the Nationalist Party which was addressed by Tonio Fenech, who was a Minister at the time, Dr Francis Zammit Dimech and Dr Borg Olivier himself.
The press conference was called at a time when serious allegations regarding commissions given during the sale of fuel oil were being made. The two major political parties were replying to several accusations with back-to-back press conferences. Allegations similar to those surrounding Mallia and Farrugia Sacco, were being made about Tonio Fenech.
The articles, to which the case is referring to, were written by journalist Matthew Bonnet, who is now head of the PN Communications. When uploaded on the website, the author’s name was not published.
Mallia and Farrugia Sacco argued that the complaint was presented against Dr Borg Olivier because the PN news portal had no editor formally registered to it. The court, therefore noted, that one must decide whether Dr Borg Olivier was responsible for the article or not. This argument was contested especially since he was the one addressing the press conference, and therefore could not have written the article himself.
In his testimony, Paul Borg Olivier argued that the news portal only served as a platform for the PN media, but it did now own the website.
Magistrate Demicoli said that in this particular case, the author of the articles was clearly indicated since they were also published as a news feature on television, and that Dr Borg Olivier should not have been the person against whom the criminal complaint was filed.
The court ruled that the criminal complaint should not be upheld and that Dr Paul Borg Olivier should be freed of charges.
Lawyer Dr Joe Zammit Maempel appeared for Paul Borg Olivier.