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PN secretary general Joe Saliba told MaltaToday that he disagrees with the libel action instituted by Police Commissioner John Rizzo. “He should have resorted to a simple right of reply,” Saliba said.
But Saliba’s comments contrast with the official statements by both the Prime Minister’s office and Home Affairs minister Tonio Borg, who have separately justified the Commissioner’s libel actions. They have argued that the Police Commissioner had every right to sue if he felt slandered.
Yet in private government officials and senior Nationalist ministers were shocked by John Rizzo’s libel, more so when he decided to turn his guns on Michael Falzon: a former PN minister who also writes in MaltaToday.
Rizzo has long been at the heart of PN controversy. He was appointed at Tonio Borg’s insistence when former Police Commissioner George Grech fell from grace after a story revealed by MaltaToday. At the time most cabinet ministers were against Rizzo’s appointment, but this was vetoed by Fenech Adami who supported Borg’s proposal.
A senior cabinet minister who talked to MaltaToday said that Tonio Borg was letting the government down for having allowed the Commissioner to reach this stage.
OPM insiders have told MaltaToday that they are unhappy with John Rizzo and his heavy-handed treatment of the media.
The Police Commissioner’s libel suits stem from comments made by various commentators regarding the police decision to interrogate a celebrity chef who sent a an anonymous but harmless email to MLP deputy party leader Michael Falzon. Falzon had asked John Rizzo to investigate. The whole episode was criticised by Saviour Balzan and Falzon’s namesake, former PN cabinet minister Michael Falzon, who writes in MaltaToday.
Rizzo’s libel actions will be spearheaded by Joe Giglio, a senior criminal lawyer. When contacted on the choice of such a lawyer, Tonio Borg skirted the question and simply replied. “This Office does not interfere with the exercise of such a right. Indeed in the past public officers used to engage the services of government lawyers in lawsuits against newspaper editors; this malpractice was stopped after 1987 since the taxpayer should not foot the bill for such legal expenses.”
Yet Tonio Borg, who engineered the current press laws, has refused to answer whether he had discussed the libel actions against MaltaToday editors and Radio 101 commentator Michael Falzon with the Commissioner of Police.
When asked to comment about the libel actions, both the Office of the Prime Minister and the Home Affairs minister simply said: “Any Maltese citizen has the right to sue any person if he or she feels slandered.”
When both the Prime Ministers office and Home Affairs minister were referred to the recent judgment at the European Court of Human Rights (Lombardi Case) which highlighted the issue of intolerance to free speech and opinion in Malta, they said; “The question of what amounts to slander depends on the jurisprudence of the Courts. Usually, following any judgment of the European Court, the Maltese Courts follow such jurisprudence.”
And when asked they found anything incorrect that Rizzo had used the services of Dr Joe Giglio as defence lawyer, renowned for defending accused and alleged criminals when prosecuted by the police, they retorted that Mr. Rizzo is a public officer and has a right to engage the services of a lawyer.
“This Office does not interfere with the exercise of such a right.” |
