Jeffrey Pullicino Orlando formally withdraws libel case against Daphne Caruana Galizia

Chairman of MCST Jeffrey Pullicino Orlando has withdrawn a libel suit that he had filed against murdered journalist and blogger Daphne Caruana Galizia over reader comments published underneath an online article.

Although the story was about hydrologist Marco Cremona, some reader comments mocked Pullicino Orlando, describing  the former PN MP as a ‘turd’ who had granted Cremona funding for a project in a ‘cosy deal.’

Surprisingly, although most of the readers’ opprobrium was aimed at Cremona, it was Pullicino Orlando who had sued Caruana Galizia for defamatory libel.

In a sitting in November 2016, Caruana Galizia had said that one allegedly defamatory comment under the same article, concerning the government job granted by Dr Pullicino Orlando to his girlfriend, had been posted by a reader whom she did not know, who went by the name of 'Joanna.'

Also in that sitting, Caruana Galizia had told magistrate Francesco Depasquale how following the publication of the blog, Pullicino Orlando had sent a series of abusive messages to her. Rather than flagging the comments for removal by an administrator, Pullicino Orlando had instead sent her text messages at one minute intervals, she had testified.

Caruana Galizia had filed a report at the Mosta police station, saying the onslaught of messages had caused her to fear for her safety. Pullicino Orlando had later been summoned to the police station and given a warning.

This morning, Pullicino Orlando’s lawyer Stephanie Abela, together with Caruana Galizia’s lawyer Joe Zammit Maempel formally notified the court that on 16 October, the defendant had been murdered in a car bombing.

Abela filed a note ceding the case. The parties agreed that no taxed bill of costs would be issued.