The very same person who had most unsuccessfully attempted to strip journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia of her right to protect her sources with the preposterous claim to the courts that she is not a journalist has once again stooped to a new level of disrespect for the press.
The person in question is Energy and Health Minister Konrad Mizzi.
On Thursday, this newspaper forwarded a perfectly legitimate request to Dr Mizzi: to be interviewed on record about new information this newspaper had in its possession in connection with his company in the shady jurisdiction of Panama.
The Minister, who had been so forthcoming earlier this month when he invited the press at large to his office to bandy about documents he had collected from virtually the four corners of the earth in a bid to demonstrate the legitimacy of his Panama company and New Zealand trust, has now decided to clam up.
That day, 5th March, Dr Mizzi had been all charm, when he felt he was holding all the cards. But when we turned those very same tables on him this week and told him that this newspaper had in its possession new information about the company in Panama, he – through his secretariat and lawyer – resorted to threats of lawsuits, intimidation and lectures on the ‘tenets of responsible journalism’: all because of the following request, which we will repeat in full:
“Dear Dr Mizzi,
“The Malta Independent has obtained new information regarding the allegations surrounding the company you opened up in Panama.
“We would like to request a recorded interview with your good self at some point on Friday to present you with these facts, and in the process offer you the opportunity to confirm, deny and/or explain this new information. We look forward to a reply at your earliest.”
This request for an on the record interview, which is, after all, a journalist’s main tool of his trade, was met with a barrage of hysteria, the likes of which have rarely been seen in this profession, at least on this island.
First, somewhat incredulously, the Minister’s secretariat replied to our perfectly legitimate request with demands to “immediately” provide the Minister with: “details of the new information you claim to have obtained, including information/background to verify its authenticity; a list of all questions and allegations, such questions and allegations being fully particularised and placed in their appropriate context; and the date on which you intend to publish any story.”
These outrageous demands were obviously refused, as follows: “Thanks for your reply. I must point out that it is in the interest of ‘responsible journalism’ that we have proposed interviewing the Minister before going to print, and we certainly do not require any guidance along such lines.
“We will share our findings with the Minister during the proposed interview. The date of publication is still not decided.”
We then received correspondence from the Minister’s lawyer accusing us of attempting to “ambush” the Minister “in the hope that he gives you an ill-considered response”. We have printed that letter elsewhere in today’s issue and as such there is no need to repeat its content here.
We must, however, point out that there are far better ways to “ambush” the subject of a news story, which we are sure the Minister knows full well. We could have easily stationed a journalist outside his residence, his office, Parliament or a press conference – documents in hand to demand explanations. But requesting a scheduled interview is perhaps the least innocuous way of “ambushing” anyone. If anything, our request was perfectly decent, perfectly legitimate and perfectly in line with the tenets of “responsible journalism” that the Minister appears to cherish so dearly.
Incidentally, the lawyer who sought to lecture this newspaper on “responsible journalism” is none other than Aron Mifsud Bonnici, the erstwhile lawyer for the General Workers’ Union. If only this same individual would have lectured our colleagues at the GWU’s newspaper, l-orizzont, about these tenets of responsible journalism before launching, for instance, its many scathing and unfounded attacks on this newspaper and its journalists, as it has on a number of occasions in the past.
Given such credentials, such advice is not worth the paper they were written on.
This, of course, is all over and above the core issue at stake, and that is the curious dates on which Dr Mizzi had his Panamanian company transferred to his trust, as is also reported in today’s issue. Answers from Dr Mizzi are still awaited.
Just as the minister’s attempt to force Mrs Caruana Galizia to reveal her sources by arguing that she is not a journalist failed miserably with this week’s court ruling that she is indeed a journalist and that as such her sources should be afforded protection, the Minister’s attempts to strong-arm this newspaper into revealing its information before confronting him with it also failed miserably.
Press freedoms are not subjective, they are an integral part of living in a free, democratic society, and the press, at least not this particular section of it, will not only refuse to bow to intimidation and threats, it will expose them in each and every instance that they rear their ugly heads.