Joe Gerada, consultant to Minister Chris Cardona, will also be instituting libel proceedings against blogger Daphne Caruana Galizia on allegations that he went to a brothel in Germany while on official duty with the minister.

Dr Cardona said on Tuesday that he will be taking the blogger to court too after she revealed that he allegedly was in a brothel close to Duesseldorf for three hours.

In a statement, the Economy Ministry said that in less than 24 hours, despite the statement categorically denying the lies published by blogger Daphne Caruana Galizia and the Minister for the Economy, Investment and Small Business Chris Cardona stating that he will be seeking legal action against blogger Daphne Caruana Galizia, she has yet again published another fictitious story on the Minister’s whereabouts in Germany yesterday  while on official Government business.

Amidst these lies, the ministry said, she has also made a number of allegations on Dr Joseph Gerada, who was accompanying the minister in his capacity as consultant to the ministry. In light of such allegations, Dr Gerada has no other choice but to also institute legal proceedings against the blogger, the ministry said.

The series of fabrications in this deceptive campaign are clearly showing that the Opposition and Caruana Galizia are acting in collusion, the ministry added. Their mutually-endorsed strategy of defamation - so as to impede the Government’s work - uses Caruana Galizia’s blog as a platform to propagate lies that no serious or earnest publication would want to be associated with.

Minister Cardona considers these blatant and baseless attacks as instruments for moral violence and character assassination - that is, damaging political reporting. The minister has assured that this unmitigated provocation will lead nowhere, and he will continue with his work on behalf of the Government for the benefit of the country, the statement said.