A court has ordered former Labour minister Joe Grima to pay €5,000 in damages to Malta’s former permanent representative in Brussels Richard Cachia Caruana after it found that Mr Grima’s string of Facebook comments back in August 2012 were libellous and damaging to Mr Cachia Caruana’s reputation.

The court ruled that freedom of expression is not a licence for an individual to say whatever he or she deems fit and the right is subject to various conditions, quoting Article 10 of the Convention of the European Courts of Human Rights, which says that ‘Article 10 of the Convention does not, however, guarantee a wholly unrestricted freedom of expression even with respect to press coverage of matters of serious public concern. Under the terms of paragraph 2 of the article, the exercise of this freedom carries with it duties and responsibilities.”

The fine imposed was the largest ever to be imposed on comments made on the social media.

In an email to The Malta Independent online, Mr Grima said that his “primary plea was that Mr Cachia Caruana had to prove that it was I, Joe Grima, who actually wrote on facebook the words complained of. Mr Cachia Caruana made no attempt to do so. Magistrate Francesco Depasquale totally ignored this, our essential plea.  We will be appealing.”

The burden of proof lies on him who affirms and not he who denies, Mr Grima said. “Without evidence substantiating Mr Cachia Caruana's claims, Magistrate Francesco Depasquale saw it fit to find for Mr Cachia Caruana and exact the maximum penalty.

“May I remind your readers that in the case instituted by Mr Charlon Gouder against Ms.Daphne Caruana Galizia, Ms Caruana Galizia was found not guilty solely on the premise that the prosecution had not proved that she was the author of the words complained of in her blog. 

“Two weights and two measures? Story of my life. For some people nothing is more obnoxious than other people's achievements.”

The maximum penalty is not €5,000, but Lm5,000 equivalent to around €12,000.