Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1514782
Saviour Balzan When Mark Camilleri asked me for a €100,000 interest-free loan Saviour Balzan is founder and co-owner of Media Today, publisher of MaltaToday, he is a TV host and pollster I have said what I have to say on Yorgen Fenech, Keith Schembri and Joseph Muscat in May of last year, and I will not bore readers with more solemn declarations. I cannot apologise for being what I am, or for nurturing ac- quaintances as a media owner and journalist. But enough is enough, and since it is war that Jason Azzopardi wants, then this is what war looks like. I have over the years purpose- ly ignored what is said about me, since the days when Daph- ne Caruana Galizia started her writings in the 1990s when she pounded me and took me to the cleaners together with my family and friends. It was part of the job. I do not expect to be treated with kids' gloves but the leak of the Yorgen Fenech chats, par- ticularly those involving me, is all about an obsession to attack me and MaltaToday. It helps to understand that un- til his arrest and charges related to the Caruana Galizia murder in November 2019, Fenech was considered by many, including politicians of all hues and shades, to be one of Malta's top bona fide businessmen and in my case also a former student and friend. Now, to purposely take one set of privileged chats, intentionally leaving all the other exchanges out, and publish without context whatsoever, is outright diabolical and criminal. But let us tackle the two indi- viduals behind all this – Mark Camilleri and Jason Azzopardi. A literary terrorist Mark Camilleri, the former Book Council CEO, is not a jour- nalist; he is a literary terrorist. He does not distinguish between news and gossip and is hungry for money and is simply driven by hate, retribution, blackmail and clickbait. In July 2013 after years hitting out at the Nationalist admin- istration, he was given a direct appointment as the CEO of the National Book Council by Joseph Muscat himself. There was no call for applica- tions, but a direct appointment. I guess that is OK for Mark but not for others. In 2013, Camilleri thought Mus- cat was God's gift to mankind. Many people did. Those who made the wrong judgements, in- cluding myself will have to live with it for the rest of their life. But at least I can admit to making a bad judgement. Until 2021, well after the Pana- ma Papers scandal, the murder of Daphne Caruana Galizia and the arrest of Yorgen Fenech, Camill- eri kept his well-oiled position at the Book Council, until he was unceremoniously removed from the post under Robert Abela. Plagued with financial problems of his own including some very bad trades with crypto currencies (one of the most dubious forms of financial dealings around) he moved to Spain and from his abode he started a blog venting his anger against everything asso- ciated with Robert Abela and any- one he simply did not like. I never engaged or confronted him. When he asked me for a do- nation for his book – A rent seek- er's Paradise – I unwisely donated €250. Well before that when he applied for a job as a journalist to work with MaltaToday I had in- terviewed him. I did not take him on. My only mistake was accepting to interview him. Sponsorships from ministers Mark Camilleri's financial pres- sures have made him turn on peo- ple. He has been receiving spon- sorships/donations from some ministries and ministers after he personally pestered them. If you want to know who these minis- ters are all you need to do is check out who is portrayed in a good light on his blog and who is not mentioned at all. Earlier last year, he made it known to one of the editors at MaltaToday that he was in pos- session of Yorgen Fenech chats with me and that he would pub- lish them. He went into a rant about MaltaToday receiving gov- ernment funds (everyone does) and how he does not. How he is based in Spain, operating a one- man show and basing his writing on mudslinging – all of which was of course beside the point. When he faced a criminal repri- mand from the courts that he was publishing privileged information unrelated to the Yorgen Fenech case, he retreated but pestered my editors that he wanted to talk to me. What followed were long emails about how much he loved me and respected me but that he disa- greed with MaltaToday accept- ing support from the State (in the form of advertising, may I add). I have no qualms saying that I do not love him, in fact I find him revolting, repulsive and sickening. But the cherry on the cake came when he asked me for €100,000. I asked him to put his demand in an email. I reproduce the email Mark Camilleri sent me below, verbatim: "I can offer a long-term partner- ship and an alliance against loan funding of €100,000. I can become a regular columnist for MaltaTo- day contributing a hard-hitting and good column every Sunday. This will elevate MaltaToday above all other papers with my value and as a result and increase your numbers significantly. I will be directing my traffic to Malta- Today. So, instead of paying high interest rates for the loan, I'll pro- vide you with contributions and collaboration. You would be mak- ing money on the loan and getting valuable contributions. The arrangement would be similar to the one that Daphne had with the Malta Independent where she has her own operation going on, but at the same time contributes every Sunday to the newspaper and collaborates close- ly with the newsroom. I am so far Malta's only investi- gative journalist who understands finance deeply well. For example, I am the only investigative jour- nalist who is investigating Bank of Valletta. Malta lacks proper financial journalism, and I can provide this to you. Thank you and look forward to keep building our relationship to- gether." I did not accept to give Mark Camilleri, a wannabee Daphne, one euro cent let alone €100,000. And I will not even consider it in 100 years. Soon after, when it was clear that there would no loan advanced from my part, Mark Camilleri launched a tirade against me and MaltaToday, accusing me of all sorts of things. His most popular was and is that I was 'sleeping' in the same bed as Robert Abela. Last year, Camilleri had writ- ten to the Committee of Media experts, asking about my creden- tials and together with the holier than thou bunch, promoted the image that I was a stooge for gov- ernment. I thank the committee's chair- man, retired judge Michael Mallia (who also led the Caruana Galizia public inquiry) for having stood up for me. At the end of the day, the com- mittee's proposals are there for all to see. They are radical, far reach- ing and in favour of true freedom. The final report, which was even- tually tabled in parliament last October, addresses most of the grievances that had been raised and proposes the necessary steps to have a free and healthy press. Extortion Throughout all this period, it was Jason Azzopardi, the former maltatoday | SUNDAY • 21 JANUARY 2024 4 OPINION 'I can offer a long-term partnership and an alliance against loan funding of €100,000. I can become a regular columnist for MaltaToday contributing a hard-hitting and good column every Sunday' - Mark Camilleri in an email before going on a rampage on his blog