[WATCH] Muscat dismisses claims of masterminding legal action against MP

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Prime Minister Joseph Muscat has vehemently denied instructing former police chief Peter Paul Zammit to open a criminal defamation case against PN MP Jason Azzopardi.

“I can ensure you that I had absolutely no contact with him about this case, and that his decision to open a lawsuit was a private one,” Muscat told the press. “[Zammit] is facing serious accusations and has every right to protect his integrity.”

He dismissed Opposition leader Simon Busuttil’s claim that Zammit’s lawsuit was a tactic by Labour to intimidate the PN.

“I hope he isn’t saying that private citizens have a right to sue other private citizens, but that politicians should be immune. I don’t believe in the concept of immunity, and indeed believe it is high time that we start debating the concept of parliamentary immunity.”

He also recounted how Malta’s former permanent representative to the EU Richard Cachia Caruana had in the past filed for criminal libel against government communications head Kurt Farrugia, back when he was head of ONE News. Farrugia had been sued for criminal libel after comments made by then opposition MPs Evarist Bartolo and Joe Mizzi on One Radio. The criminal complaint was also filed againt Mizzi and Bartolo.

“Nobody had kicked up a storm back then,” he said.   

Peter Paul Zammit filed his complaint with the police after Azzopardi held a press conference last June condemning the former police chief, who was found responsible for a data protection breach against a police inspector, when details of the officer’s misdemeanours were published in MaltaToday. The investigation did not conclude that the files were leaked by Zammit but that the files were in his possession at the time.

‘Balance not yet struck in defamation law discussions’

The Prime Minister admitted that a proposed legal revamp of Malta’s defamation laws is still some way from completion, and that opinion is still divided among sections of the media.

“We must strike a balance between protecting the right to freedom of expression and protecting the rights of people to not be defamation. After speaking informally with some important aspects of the media, it is clear that they don’t have a consolidated position over what needs to be changed. There’s a fragmented approach all over the place.”

He refused to give an indication as to when a potential Bill will be tabled in Parliament, but said that it will take on a higher level of priority once the censorship revamp Bill passes into law.