Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1073679
NEWS maltatoday | WEDNESDAY • 23 JANUARY 2019 2 Fgura Local Council 126/128, Hompesch Road, Fgura [Tel:] +356 21664000 [Email:] fgura.lc@gov.mt The Fgura Local Council notifies that during its next Council meeting, scheduled for Wednesday 13th February 2019, it shall be discussing the following bye-law: - Hiring of Facilities (Fgura Local Council) The general public is being informed that a copy of the mentioned bye-law will be made available at the Local Council's Offices which shall be receiving any suggestions/complaints up till Friday 8th February 2019. Beverly Saliba Executive Secretary MATTHEW AGIUS A magistrate has taken the unusual step of ordering the hearing of a libel case contin- ue behind closed doors, after a court expert testified about his role in the Daphne Carua- na Galizia inquiry. Security company di- rector John Muscat had sued MaltaToday and its sister newspaper Il- lum for libel after they carried articles nam- ing him as the possible leak who was feeding information about the inquiry to politicians and the foreign press. Presiding Magistrate Ra- chel Montebello gave the order to vacate the courtroom this morning as the case filed by Muscat continued. Earlier, Muscat, who told the court that he was the di- rector of a security company, took the stand and said that he had been asked by inquir- ing magistrate Anthony Vella to assist in the Caruana Gali- zia murder probe but was never paid for his services. The fact of his non-payment was confirmed by a repre- sentative of the Registrar of Courts. But when lawyer Ve- ronique Dalli asked in cross- examination whether he was officially appointed as an ex- pert, and what his expertise and his involvement was, she was stopped by the court. Noting that there was a probability that publishing his replies would jeopardise the secrecy of the magisterial inquiry, the court then or- dered everyone to leave. The case then continued be- hind closed doors. During the first sitting last December, Muscat raised eyebrows in court when he claimed not to have been part of the Caruana Galizia mur- der inquiry and yet submitted in court that he had returned papers to the inquiring mag- istrate. Muscat was mentioned in articles written by the two de- fendants, which outlined the internal tensions within the murder inquiry and a leak was identified when red herrings were fed to selected persons who acted as experts. According to the MaltaToday arti- cle, "Police sources complained that they could not trust some of the court ex- perts appointed to the inquiry: they included John Gera, a health and safety expert who has since resigned from the investiga- tion after Magistrate Neville Camilleri took over the case; but also, John Muscat, a secu- rity consultant who is also the brother of former PN cam- paign manager, now The Shift journalist Caroline Muscat; and former Security Service officer Roberto Critien." It was not until the depar- ture of Magistrate Anthony Vella from the investigation that it was possible to identify the leak. Caruana Galizia inquiry expert cross-examined behind closed doors in MaltaToday libel case MATTHEW AGIUS TWO persons being sued for libel by Labour MP Rosianne Cutajar, over derogatory Fa- cebook posts in which she was likened to a prostitute, have denied the claim, saying that the term "prostitute" was not defamatory. In replies filed in the court of Magistrates yesterday, God- frey Leone Ganado and Rachel Antoinette Williams rebutted the assertion that the posts were defamatory, saying they amounted to "fair comment" when taken "in the context of the applicant's behaviour with particular reference to previ- ous publications about her and/or by her and /or with her consent". One of the lawsuits was filed after a post which read "How- ever, hamalli, prostitutes and call girls, have a right to be rep- resented in Parliament." Leone Ganado said he was "perplexed" as to how this could be considered as defam- atory. The emphasis lay upon the term 'hamalli' which could be construed as negative but certainly not defamatory, he insisted. In the second reply, filed jointly by Leone Ganado and Williams, it was posited that Williams had no case to an- swer as the comments were simply posted on her Facebook wall by third parties. She had posted no comments, defama- tory or otherwise, argued her lawyer, and had not signaled her agreement or otherwise to what was said in comments by others. Moreover, the term prosti- tute, whilst bearing negative connotations was certainly not defamatory and "did not in any way attribute the status of prostitute to the applicant," the defendants argued, point- ing out that the comment had read "In Maltese we say Prosti- tute" (Bil-Malti nghidu Qahba) and not "In Maltese we call her Prostitute (Bil-Malti nghid- ulha Qahba)." As for the request to have the posts deleted, the defendants said they were reserving their position in the light of the con- stitutionality of the request, as well as due to the "impossibil- ity thereof within the existing technological environment". Lawyer Andrew Borg Car- dona signed the replies. Calling MP 'prostitute' not defamatory, lawyer argues in Rosianne Cutajar case Occupy Justice activist and Facebook user sued by Labour MP tells court the term 'prostitute' was not defamatory and did not attribute the status of prostitute to Rosianne Cutajar Rosianne Cutajar In an unusual move Magistrate Rachel Montebello ordered the court expert to testify behind closed doors in a libel case he instituted against MaltaToday and Illum John Muscat