Louis Galea awarded damages over Ciro del Negro reports on Labour media

A court has ordered Labour party broadcasters One TV and One Radio to pay former PN minister Louis Galea €5,000 in damages after it held that their repeated mentions of Galea during in the context of a book entitled “The diary of Ciro del Negro” – a book that deals with a drug smuggling operation – were defamatory.

Galea, who serves on the European Court of Auditors, had filed a libel case against Etienne St. John and Felix Agius, as the persons responsible for the broadcaster at the time. Today St. John is a spokesperson for foreign minister George Vella.

In April 1997, the broadcasters had quoted parts of ‘The diary of Ciro del Negro’ written by journalist and lawyer Joe Mifsud and published by the Malta Labour Party's information department, together with clips mentioning Galea, implying his involvement in the case.

The diary alleged meetings took place in the office of former parliamentary secretary Lawrence Gatt, between his son Etienne and other known drug traffickers.

Galea told the court that he had no ties to the case, adding that during his time as minister he had worked hard to stop the proliferation of drugs.

St. John and Agius denied the allegations, claiming that any inferences to Galea were unintentional. They explained that Galea had been mentioned in the broadcast because of the fact that certain individuals in his inner circle are mentioned the book.

Judge Joseph Micallef however held that the clips had been aired systematically over several days and in spite of Galea’s repeated denials of involvement in the drug trafficking organisation.

The court held that the allegations were “absolutely unfounded and made worse by the fact that they constitute an abuse of public office and a criminal offence”.

In view of this fact and the fact that no evidence had been presented to indicate that Galea had been involved in a drug trafficking ring, the judge ordered the two editors to pay Galea €5,000 in damages.