Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/661117
25 maltatoday, SUNDAY, 3 APRIL 2016 Opinion joins the ranks of thousands of ordinary citizens across the island, all of whom have at one time or another borne the full brunt of Malta's outrageously archaic libel laws: laws which Azzopardi's own government consistently refused to update to the 21st century, despite having had a full quarter of a century in which to think about it. And of course, we are all expected to light a candle, join hands in prayer, and sing 'We Shall Overcome'… OK, I'll admit that Azzopardi's case is indeed somewhat bizarre. The man doing the suing, on this occasion, happens to be former Police Commissioner Peter Paul Zammit: who will now be utilising the same Police Force he headed until recently to prosecute his own case in court. Now: I am fully aware that ' justice is blind', and all that. But to be blind to a conf lict of interest of those proportions… that takes more than just optical impairment. That's a case for a complete brain transplant… Still, a criminal libel it remains: not unlike countless other cases currently before the law courts, many initiated by Azzopardi's own colleagues (at least one by Azzopardi himself ). How is that a 'threat to the principles of democracy', exactly? And why only that case, and not any of another half a million libel suits … some of which were very clearly intended to stif le freedom of expression for political ends? Because, naturally, different rules apply to people like Jason Azzopardi. It's even laid down in the Constitution: right there, in the small print at the bottom of the very last page: "Oh, and by the way: none of this document actually applies to any political party represented in the House of Parliament. It's only intended for lesser mortals…" So how dare a former Police Commissioner presume to resort to precisely the same tactics the PN has used for decades? And how dare he use this political weapon against a Nationalist MP… and not, for instance, against a newspaper editor, in which case everything would have been hunky dory? You see, I don't recall a similar outcry when former Police Commissioner John Rizzo sued this newspaper twice under a Nationalist administration… nor, for that matter, when the entire PN parliamentary group simultaneously sued MaltaToday over an editorial. But I can fully understand how the same political party would howl blue murder, when the same ugly strategy blows up in its face. It's not how the script's meant to go, damn it. And they should know, for they wrote that script – including Malta's libel laws – themselves, specifically for their own use as a weapon with which to silence the media. And just like every other example of Maltese political hypocrisy in action, it works both ways. I know it's become a bit 'comme d'habitude' to counterbalance all criticism of one party with equal criticism of the other… but you can't really help it, can you? They really do all sing from exactly the same hymn book. Take the prime minister's response, for instance, when Simon Busuttil accused him of having 'masterminded' Zammit's libel case (because, of course, it takes a 'masterful mind' to file a defamation suit… so masterful, that even Busuttil himself managed it no fewer than four times against one newspaper, Kullhadd, last August). This is what Muscat said: "I hope he [Busuttil] isn't saying that private citizens have a right to sue other private citizens, but that politicians should be immune. I don't believe in the concept of immunity, and indeed believe it is high time that we start debating the concept of parliamentary immunity…" Got that, folks? He doesn't believe in immunity. And just to clarify matters, this is the same Joseph Muscat whose immediate reaction to all press enquiries about the Panamagate scandal was to warn the press about the dangers of 'criminal libel'. Strangely, Joseph Muscat had no issue with 'immunity' back then… when it was his government that was acting as if it were 'immune' to its own electoral commitment to transparency. As with Azzopardi's cries of instant martyrdom: it's only now… and only applicable to the other party, not his own. But let's not get lost in technicalities. The truly wonderful thing – apart from the fact Azzopardi will soon enjoy for himself the exhilarating thrill of a fun-ride through Malta's most popular tourist attraction; lucky him! – is that both parties now seem to agree that Malta's libel laws need an urgent overhaul. Simon Busuttil even feels that they 'take the country back 36 years'… and indeed they do, because they haven't actually been amended by any government in any of that time (except to make the penalties harsher, which happened under the PN). So: remind me again… whose job is it to amend and update Malta's legislation? Last I looked it was Parliament, and… no: just looked again, and nothing's changed. Off you go then, the pair of you. And don't come back till you've drafted a new libel law that actually fits in the context of a 21st century European jurisdiction… Jason Azzopardi seems to have suddenly developed very vocal qualms about using 'libel' as a 'political weapon'… but only, it seems, when the weapon is directed against himself Joseph Muscat had no issue with 'immunity' when it was his government acting as if it were 'immune' to its own electoral commitment to transparency