Minister Konrad Mizzi send this newsroom two very abrasive replies to counter the main story on The Malta Independent on Sunday in the short space of two hours, but he still did not find time to reply to the pertinent questions that were raised.

Replying to his two official missives, The Malta Independent on Sunday yesterday wrote back to Minister Mizzi:

“Dear Dr Mizzi,

“We have noted your Right of Reply and the subsequent press release issued by the Department of Information, both of which we have reproduced faithfully online.

“We have also noted that you have still not answered several pertinent questions raised, and as such our interview request remains open.”

The Malta Independent on Sunday had also sought to question the minister about the owners of the Panamanian-registered company ATC Administrators Inc. – the company that had held Dr Mizzi’s own Panamanian company, Hearnville Inc, from 2 June 2015 up to 21 July 2015 until it had been transferred into his New Zealand trust.

This newspaper had also wanted to ascertain from the minister why, exactly, ATC Administrators Inc. had been holding the Hearnville Inc. company for the period between 2 June 2015 and 22 July 2015, as well as why, exactly, it had been transferred to his New Zealand Trust on the exact date that Gasol had sold its Electrogas shareholding.

In a Right of Reply sent by Dr Aron Mifsud Bonnici on behalf of Dr Mizzi, it was said: “The headline and article is smear journalism of the worst kind. The Malta “Independent of Sunday chose to depict two distinct occurrences which are completely unrelated. It is evident that the intent is to invite the reader to infer wrongdoing without making direct allegations.

“There is absolutely no relation or connection between the establishment of Dr Mizzi’s declared trust and related structures and the sale of Gasol shares to the other shareholders of Electrogas Malta. “Dr Mizzi has also subjected himself to a full tax audit which shall show that all allegations levelled at him over the past weeks are baseless.”

Subsequently, the Department of Information issued a differently-worded statement. “Reference is made to the fictitious and malicious story reported on the front page of The Malta Independent on Sunday. The Malta Independent on Sunday chose to combine two distinct occurrences which are completely unrelated. It is evident that the intent is to invite the reader to infer wrongdoing without making direct allegations.

“The absolute lack of evidence or attempt by the Independent to verify or otherwise substantiate its contrived assertions shows the bad faith of the newspaper and its method of pursuing the story. 

“This bad faith was immediately apparent. The newspaper sought a recorded interview to purportedly ‘present documented evidence’ on camera. The sole aim of the paper was to ambush Dr Mizzi and to conceitedly attempt to apportion guilt by association. This is nothing short of gutter journalism which serves no purpose in furthering the public interest.

“If the Malta Independent was thoroughly convinced of the strength of its purported evidence, it should not have had any qualms with making such facts public and known to its interviewee. The purely speculative story it chose to report today is proof in itself that The Malta Independent had no interest in seeking the truth but simply to sensationalize unrelated and distinct events through a forced and artificial connection. 

“Simon Busuttil's piggy-backing on the story during his Sunday morning speech shows that the Independent and PN blogger Daphne Caruana Galizia who writes for the same paper are acting in tandem with the Opposition in a mudslinging exercise.

“Dr Mizzi has put himself to a full tax audit which shall show that such insuations are baseless and malicious.

“Dr Mizzi re-iterates that he welcomes legitimate, accurate and fair criticism and inquiry and respects the media's right to freedom of expression and the freedom of the media more generally. However, free speech is only informative if accurate. It is not in the public interest for the public to be misled.”