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Kurt Sansone
A nine-page sentence handed down by Magistrate Dennis Montebello this week found this newspaper guilty of defaming former Labour MP Prof. Louis Buhagiar, awarding the highest ever libel damages to the tune of Lm4,000.
In his first comment on the matter, Editor Saviour Balzan called the decision, shameful.
MaltaToday will be appealing from the sentence.
In delivering his judgement, Magistrate Montebello decreed that the article published on 5 May 2002, titled ‘Maltese doctors in UK insurance probe’ was libellous and awarded Buhagiar damages.
The magistrate decreed: “On the basis of complaints made by tourists, and insurance companies that represent them, about tariffs charged by Dr Buhagiar, the accused (Saviour Balzan and Kurt Sansone) with inexplicable zeal and without adequate research, started a campaign against the complainant (Dr Buhagiar) to label him, not through mere suspicion but through an allegation of breach of professional ethics and abusive behaviour against patients and declare him (Dr Buhagiar) to be in the spotlight locally, when they had created the ‘spotlight’ themselves with their preceding articles in the newspaper.”
Court evidence shows that the spotlight on Buhagiar had been turned on by various media reports other than MaltaToday of a case involving a British tourist treated at St Luke’s Hospital way before this newspaper had started publishing articles about the professor’s excessive fees.
Testimony submitted by Dr Ray Busuttil, Director of Health, on 1 December 2004 shows that on 8 April 2002 (a month before the news report contested by Buhagiar appeared in MaltaToday) the police had received a notification from Dr Busuttil to investigate allegations of misconduct by Dr Buhagiar.
Dr Busuttil under oath said: “After I submitted the case to the police, on that same day, or some time after, presumably after the police had talked to Dr Buhagiar he phoned me and told me that if I had spoken to him directly he would have given me an explanation. He (Buhagiar) alleged that I reported the case to the police to put him in a bad light (biex naghmillu l-hsara) and that I was abusing my power.”
Magistrate Montebello also decreed that a sentence delivered by the Small Claims Tribunal which found Buhagiar guilty of charging excessive fees to a Maltese patient, and which was submitted as evidence by this newspaper had little relevance to the case since the patient was not a tourist.
Magistrate Montebello also makes reference to a number of complaints made by tourists and their respective insurance companies about excessive fees charged by the former parliamentary secretary and which were lodged with the Director of Institutional Health. These complaints were brushed aside since the Medical Council never found Dr Buhagiar guilty of any breach of ethics.
In testimony submitted in court on 20 October 2004, Dr John Cachia, Director of Institutional Health said that in his official capacity he had received reports that “concerned Dr Louis Buhagiar in relation to his behaviour with patients.”
Cachia also produced a batch of files each outlining the complaints made against a number of Maltese doctors including Dr Buhagiar by foreign insurance companies.
Cachia continued: “Another report (complaint against Dr Louis Buhagiar) was submitted by International Medical Rescue. These are representatives of insurance companies. They complained about the fees charged by Dr Louis Buhagiar and since it is not the competence of the health division to investigate fees imposed by doctors we passed on these complaints to the medical council.”
The Medical Council never investigated Dr Buhagiar since the complaints that reached it were not legally admissible since they were not made personally by the patients themselves. This does not mean that the complaints were not made.
From Dr Cachia’s evidence it also transpires that foreign insurance companies had been investigating the behaviour of Maltese doctors, as alleged by the MaltaToday article of 5 May 2002.
Dr Cachia had continued: “In May 2002 a delegation of foreign insurance companies had come to Malta to see what system was used in Malta to charge patients. These delegates did not complain on a particular doctor, but they had in their possession written complaints made by patients. Some of these complaints made by patients concerned Dr Louis Buhagiar.”
Dr Cachia also explained that the complaints lodged with the representatives of the insurance companies contained the names of patients who either complained personally or had their insurance company complain on their behalf.
“In my file I do not have copies of individual reports by patients but I do have extensive documentation pertaining to the all-encompassing report drawn up by IMR (International Medical Rescue) outlining the details of each case including the contested bill.
“In connection to these bills, the report mentions various doctors including Dr Louis Buhagiar,” Dr Cachia had said under oath.
As for awarding damages, Magistrate Montebello, apart from taking into consideration the doctor’s profession and his post at University, also made reference to the negative impact the MaltaToday story had on Prof. Buhagiar’s political career.
In 2003 Prof. Buhagiar was not elected to Parliament after the Labour Party had decided that then deputy leader George Vella, elected on the third and fifth electoral districts, should give up his seat on the third electoral district. As a consequence Prof. Buhagiar, who was not elected initially but who was likely to make it to Parliament had George Vella given up the seat on the fifth electoral district, failed to retain his parliamentary seat.
Apart from this Prof. Buhagiar had been viewed with a suspicious eye by the Labour Party central administration after having broken ranks with the party when the impeachment vote against Judge Depasquale was brought before Parliament and for having expressed an opinion in The Times in favour of the MLP recognising the result of the referendum. He had also ignored the MLP’s boycott of Istrina.
Magistrate Montebello gave no consideration to the political tribulation caused to Dr Buhagiar by his own party and proceeded to condemn MaltaToday editor Saviour Balzan to pay Lm1,500 in damages and journalist Kurt Sansone Lm2,500.
kurt@newsworksltd.com
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