Economy ministry officer to sue Caruana Galizia over brothel allegations

Economy ministry officer Joseph Gerada is to institute legal proceedings against Malta Independent columnist and blogger Daphne Caruana Galizia after she said that he accompanied minister Chris Cardona at a brother while in Germany.

Caruana Galizia’s post was uploaded on her blog at 11:45pm on Monday, claiming a source who contacted her allegedly witnessed Cardona emerging from a sauna-shower complaining that the water was cold.

Cardona categorically denied the allegations, and immediately announced he would be taking legal steps against the blogger.

On Wednesday at 1:04pm, Caruana Galizia published another post on her blog, pinpointing Gerada as the man in Cardona’s company at the brothel. She also wrote that Gerada was involved in sexual activity involving three people, including the minister.

“[This] strategy of defamation - so as to impede the Government’s work - uses Caruana Galizia’s blog as a platform to propagate lies that no serious or earnest publication would want to be associated with,” the ministry of economy said in a statement.

Cardona has called the allegations an “outright lie that is another attempt on Caruana Galizia’s part to discredit and sully an individual’s reputation” and accused her of peddling fake news.