Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1195815
3 maltatoday | SUNDAY • 22 DECEMBER 2019 NEWS TIMES of Malta has retracted its edito- rial statement where it denied allegations that former journalist Ivan Camilleri (pic- tured) had been involved in a shoplift- ing incident from a Naxxar supermarket – now saying that new information has emerged on the incident. MaltaToday had broke the story that Camilleri had been confronted by Valyou supermarket management over an alleged case of shoplifting. Camilleri had denied the allegations. Mediatoday director Sav- iour Balzan later filed a libel suit against the journalist to safeguard CCTV footage from the supermarket. "Based on [his] explanation and trust in a long-standing team member, Times of Malta publicly defended Mr Camilleri. In the ensuing weeks, Times of Malta contin- ued to investigate the allegations and dis- covered a contradictory version of events, which was confirmed by a number of indi- viduals," the Times's revised statement on the 31 October editorial now reads. It added that since the newspaper con- sistently called for people in high office to act according to basic standards of hon- esty and accountability, such a standard also had to be applied with one of their own "even at the pain of losing one of the company's most experienced hands". The Times of Malta previously vehe- mently defended the journalist, claiming that Saviour Balzan's article on the shop- lifting incident was "littered with mali- cious innuendo" and with the intention to mislead. Such terms have since been removed from Times's initial statement. In an unexpected turn of events, Camill- eri was dismissed from the Times on Fri- day, over suspicion that he tipped off the alleged mastermind in the Daphne Carua- na Galizia assassination, the Tumas mag- nate Yorgen Fenech, of police interest. It was the Times which had first broke news that "a major businessman" had been sus- pected of being the mastermind. A question was put by the Caruana Gali- zia family's lawyer Jason Azzopardi during the examination of lead investigator Keith Arnaud on Thursday, where he asked about a tip-off from a journalist that had been found in Fenech's mobile phone. MaltaToday then broke the story that the police had found a Whatsapp text from Fenech to his uncle, Ray Fenech, in which a certain 'Ivan' allegedly warned the former of police interest. Camilleri declined to comment when asked by this newspaper about the inci- dent but later issued a lengthy statement via his lawyer, Ian Spiteri Bailey, following his dismissal from the Times. "Mr Camilleri insists that Allied News- papers and its management reached its conclusions on what it itself termed 'sus- picions' and 'allegations'. There wasn't, and there couldn't have been, any refer- ence to my client's version of events, sim- ply because he was not given the opportu- nity to rebut same allegations. "This serves to effectively affirm that the decision to terminate Mr Camilleri's employment was taken on the basis of un- founded suppositions and allegations, and certainly not on any tangible and justifi- able grounds. "It becomes apparent that the company was only interested in finding some futile excuse to terminate Mr Camilleri's em- ployment." Camilleri said that he never discussed, spoke to, or otherwise communicated with Fenech on the assassination of Caru- ana Galizia. Times retracts defence of Ivan Camilleri on shoplifting incident CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 Police investigators have seized all computer data and documents in Fenech's possession, while he is now in jail facing charges of having masterminded the assassination of the journalist Daphne Caruana Gali- zia. Keith Schembri, who according to State's evidence Melvin Theuma, had forewarned Fenech of the police raid on the men accused of carry- ing out the car bomb execution of Caruana Galizia, is now being inves- tigated for homicide and tampering with evidence. Schembri's doctor, who also hap- pens to be Yorgen Fenech's doctor, has also been said to have accompa- nied Schembri on visits to the US for cancer treatment. Keith Schembri's health became a bone of contention in 2016 when Caruana Galizia then wrote that he had contracted a "fatal illness" as early as 2015. She had revealed how Schembri had stayed at Casa di Cura Mater Dei, a private hospital in Rome's Parioli neighbourhood between 22- 24 April 2016. This was around the time that the Panama Papers had revealed Schembri to have a secret offshore company. Caruana Galizia published nu- merous articles at this stage on the subject of Panama and Schembri's inoperable eye tumour and how the chief-of-staff "has only been given some months left to live." The Nationalist Party newspaper Il-Mument went so far as to follow up this story with one of their own: James Piscopo, the former PL CEO, was set to replace Schembri. In December of 2016, Prime Min- ister Joseph Muscat finally broke the silence on his chief of staff's condition and said that Schembri was "alive and kicking" and that he would return to his office in Castille after a short hiatus. "He is undergo- ing some treatment but his health is not as has been reported by some sections of the media. I am still wait- ing for an apology from that section of the media," he said. These stories irked Schembri to the point that he talked about them at length during testimonies he made during the Egrant inquiry. Schembri had told magistrate Aaron Bugeja that Caruana Galizia "crossed the limit" when she wrote about his health problems. "It can be on the record or off the record. You're asking me about this article writer, I think this person has caused a lot of harm to my personal life and my family life," Schembri had told the magistrate. "Everyone knows that I have health problems, and she invented a con- dition, made my family crazy. I was going to America for treatment and she provided my date of death with- out even… I am living proof of her lies, you see. I don't think it's right, as in the data protection commis- sioner forced her to delete the claim that I have an inoperable eye tumour from her site or pay €2,500 and €250 a day… and the article is still online, you see. "It's not because I want to squab- ble, I don't mind, but she has crossed the limit. At the worst time of my life, it wouldn't even have crossed my mind… I was at a clinic in America, going for a PET scan, I had to wait for half an hour and I saw a comment, 'make cancer bring him down'. I have no respect… I don't know how to hate but I have no respect for people like that and I think I am currently responding to a frame-up. "She's been lying about me for weeks, a year, a year and a half and I promised myself that I wasn't go- ing to sue her for libel. However, last week I opened two libel suits against her. It can't go on like this... When your 13-year-old daughter ap- proaches you and says, 'Daddy, they said you're going die at school' and you don't know how to respond… I feel hurt that I am here today re- sponding to these allegations." Schembri: DCG blog on tumour 'crossed the limit'