Journalist and prison critic Peppi Azzopardi has spoken out against the article published by talk.mt Malta about ex-prisoner Anthony Borg, saying that “instead of defending the vulnerable, talk.mt chooses to defend those who are abusing the system and its prisoners.”

People who are abusing the prison system know they are lying and choose to keep on lying, Azzopardi said.

On Sunday an article was published by talk.mt Malta which stated that Borg is wanted by the police for failing to sign his bail book. A screenshot was also uploaded showing Anthony Borg as a ‘Wanted Person.’ Talk.mt is formerly known as iNews and it is owned by the General Workers’ Union.

Borg is a former prisoner who in a Times of Malta interview went public with claims of mistreatment at Corradino Correctional Facility (CCF). He revealed the harshness and cruelty of the prison. Borg was in the same prison cell with Colin Galea, the prison inmate who died on 17 August days after a suicide attempt.

In a Facebook post on Monday, Azzopardi gave an account, including details of a private telephone conversation he had with Borg, on what happened following the publication of the article.

He recalled how Borg insisted with Azzopardi that the article published by the website( was false, saying that he has always gone to the police and signed his bail book.

Azzopardi also wrote that he got in touch with talk.mt on the matter, saying that what they wrote is a lie.

“Eventually, iNews (talk.mt) understood their mistake and decided to remove the story completely. It turns out that the screenshot was a lack of communication between the police and the photo was leaked by someone who wants to break Toni down.

I thought the matter had ended there but on Monday, iNews decided to publish the article and screenshot once again. iNews said, and I quote: “Meanwhile, this site is informed that Anthony Borg was really wanted by the Police after he failed to sign at the police station several times,” Azzopardi said.

He added that “this is the kind of hatred present against Toni. Following Borg’s revelation, they cannot deny the atrocities present in prison. They are simply trying to break him. They tried to break him in prison, and they are trying to break him outside of prison because he exposed them. This is a complete conspiracy.”

“Toni is the same person who was placed in a cell alone for three months after he had something to say to the Prison Director (Alexander Dalli), being allowed to leave his cell for just an hour. Toni is the only person who revealed how Colin was treated in prison before he committed suicide.

Since then, no one denied what Toni said but there is an entire conspiracy to try and break him,” Azzopardi said.

Meanwhile, lawyer David Gatt reacted to the article on Anthony Borg’s behalf, saying that it was published “without any truthful basis.”

“I inform you that after checks have been made with the prosecuting officers, Borg has signed his bail book.  According to the Press Law, I ask you to correct this error by publishing a right of reply as written here,” Gatt said.

Photo by Times of Malta.