A court yesterday ruled in favour of Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi in a libel case filed against him by General Workers’ Union secretary general Tony Zarb.

The union had claimed it had been libelled when Dr Gonzi blamed it for Sea Malta’s liquidation.

Dr Gonzi had blamed GWU for the 144 redundant workers and the liquidation of Sea Malta in a social activity organised by the Nationalist Party Women’s Movement in Buskett on 6 December 2005.

In his testimony, Dr Gonzi said that the majority of Sea Malta employees had been in favour of the proposed agreement with Grimaldi but the GWU had acted upon the opinion of only 28 seamen who were against the proposed deal.

He added that the talks with Grimaldi had been lengthy and difficult but the government had done all in its power so that Grimaldi would take over Sea Malta’s operations because the Maltese shipping line was bankrupt.

The court, presided over by Magistrate Michael Mallia, ruled that these comments were not defamatory.

Magistrate Mallia pointed out that although Mr Zarb acted in the workers’ interests and eventually tried to reach an agreement with all the stakeholders, the procrastination caused by the seamen’s pressure eventually led to the liquidation of the company.

In handing down his judgement, he added that when Mr Zarb finally accepted all the conditions after a Cabinet’s meeting, “the die had already been cast with well-known consequences”.

As a result, Prime Minister Gonzi had every right to express his opinion that the GWU was responsible for the loss of 144 jobs.

Dr Aaron Mifsud Bonnici was counsel to the union while Joe Zammit Maempel acted for the Prime Minister.