[WATCH] Muscat defends new media bill as ‘guaranteeing press freedom’

Joseph Muscat insists new media law would guarantee freedom of expression

Economy Minister Chris Cardona’s decision to issue a garnishee order against Malta Independent columnist Daphne Caruana Galizia has been “surpassed” now that the funds have been collected, Prime Minister Joseph Muscat said.

The government this week released the proposed the Media and Defamation Act, which would abolish criminal libel and ban precautionary warrants against any person sued for damages for libel or defamation.

Muscat rubbished suggestions that the government’s move was “hypocritical”, whilst insisting that claiming that Malta was not a democratic country, or that press freedom is stifled, was unfair.

He also described Cardona’s garnishee move as “surpassed” following the money collected for Caruana Galizia.

The court had accepted Cardona’s request for a €46,000 garnishee on Caruana Galizia for alleging that he – and his aide Joe Gerada – were inside a German brothel. A crowd funding initiative – led by PN candidate David Thake – generated over €55,000 for the blogger’s libel fund.

Read more: Malta’s new media Bill – the digest read

Muscat insisted that the revamped media bill “is a clear sign in favour of freedom of the press”.

Under the proposed law, the new moral damages in a court of law for defamation will climb to €20,000 over the current €11,000. That means the cases will be heard in the upper courts by a Judge, and not in the Court of Magistrates.

Muscat would not be roped in to state whether he believed that the figure was too high, hinting that some Cabinet members have deemed the sum as “low”.

“Ultimately it’s not a question of money but about a person’s reputation.”

The government is also proposing to launch consultation on a ‘press complaints commission’ or a media ombudsman.

On their part, the Nationalist Party accused Muscat of being a threat to democracy for not stopping Cardona from filing the garnishee orders.

PN deputy leader Beppe Fenech Adami and PN MP Clyde Puli accused the government of hypocrisy, arguing that it had supported Cardona.