Activist Godfrey Leone Ganado stoked anger after writing degrading and misogynistic insults at TVM Head of News Norma Saliba on a Facebook comments board on Sunday.

Leone Ganado commented below a live broadcast of an interview Saliba was conducting with PN leader Bernard Grech, insulting Saliba in a sexualized manner on the specific basis that she is a woman, before then also calling her a “political prostitute” in a second comment.

The comments, which come at the same time that increased awareness is being raised on male actions against women following the murder of Sarah Everard in the UK, have drawn widespread condemnation from all spheres.

The Institute of Maltese Journalists (IGM) said in a statement that it had received a complaint from Saliba on the remarks, which she described as “insulting, degrading, and dishonest” and called on him to apologise to her both as a journalist but more so as a woman.

IGM called on Leone Ganado to withdraw the arguments, and called on an investigation to be launched against him by the Police’s Hate Crime and Speech Unit as well.

“It is scandalous that in society there are still those who think that it is acceptable to pass misogynistic comments like these, especially to journalists who are doing their jobs”, IGM said in a statement.

Meanwhile, the Labour Party also issued a statement in reaction to the comment, linking Leone Ganado to PN leader Bernard Grech, saying that such divisive and “classist attitudes” and attacks on whoever has a different opinion are the rule of the day for the “Bernard Grech faction”.

They said that it is Bernard Grech who had instigated this behaviour.

On his own part, Grech took to Facebook to say that while criticism should be accepted, abuse should never be tolerated.  He condemned Leone Ganado’s comments and said that she had his full solidarity.

In a statement on their own Facebook, the civil society NGO Repubblika – of which Leone Ganado is a member – said that while the activist gives an important contribution to their organization, they were “disappointed” with the language he had used.

“Where is necessary, it’s good for there to be criticism, even if it’s strong.  But the fact that the person is a woman should never be an insult in itself.  Normal Saliba deserves to be criticized as a government propagandist but never because she is a woman”, they wrote.

On his own part, Leone Ganado on Sunday evening released an apology to Saliba:

“Reference to the interview with Dr Bernard Grech this morning, I hereby apologise to Ms Norma Saliba, for having, during the interview, made an online comment with indecorous words. I also commit myself to the general public, that I will not go over the decorous line in words I use in any comments I will make in future”, he wrote.

It’s not the first time that Leone Ganado has gotten himself into hot water for his misogynistic Facebook comments – he was condemned to pay €800 in damages to former Parliamentary Secretary Rosianne Cutajar after calling her a prostitute.

He and another former activist had then set up a crowdfunding campaign to try and get the legal fees that they had incurred paid for them.