Libel proceedings instituted against The Times were never about the money but about the right which the MUMN officials had to defend their good name and repute, a right which has been vindicated not only once but twice by our courts, which judgments, it would seem, The Times is too haughty to accept, the union said in a statement this morning.

MUMN issued the statement in support of and solidarity with its president Maria Cutajar, general secretary Colin Galea and financial secretary George Saliba, together with its honorary president Paul Pace in view of the continued and unwarranted attacks being made on them by the Times of Malta.

These attacks, the union said, follow the issuance of a garnishee order with the authorization of the Court of Magistrates after a Times of Malta journalist and editor failed to pay their dues more than six months after a final judgement was delivered against them by the Court of Appeal. 

In an e-article entitled 'Court freezes assets of Times of Malta journalists at request of Paul Pace, ex-MUMN president', as well as in the editorial of last Sunday's issue of The Sunday Times of Malta, the Times, apart from misinforming its readers as to the actual facts of the case, sought to vilify the four plaintiffs by portraying them as some money-hungry parasites who were unable to await the final outcome of the case prior to executing their request for payment, the union said.

Nothing could be further from the truth, it added. The MUMN officials could have sought the issuance of a garnishee order (albeit of a precautionary nature) against The Times editor and journalist in September, 2012, when the first judgement by the Court of Magistrates was delivered. 

Not only did the MUMN officials refrain from doing so, but they exerted the utmost caution and only requested the issuance of an executive garnishee order six months after a final judgement had been delivered by the Court of Appeal and after a letter requesting payment went unheeded. 

In its efforts to try and vilify the MUMN officials, The Times has only managed to vilify itself with the general public in view of the unprecedented arrogance manifested in its attacks on the MUMN officials and on the Courts themselves, the union said. The Times knows very well - or at least should know - that the filing of a constitutional case to which the MUMN officials are not even a party does not produce a stay in the execution of the court judgement, MUMN added. 

The editorial of last Sunday's edition of The Sunday Times attempts to misrepresent the issuance of the garnishee order as a vindictive attack rather than for what it really is - that is, the legitimate recourse to judicial action by creditors against recalcitrant debtors, MUMN said.