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MW 29 March 2017

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WWW.MALTATODAY.COM.MT WEDNESDAY EDITION €1.00 Newspaper post PAGE 9 • Editorial WEDNESDAY • 29 MARCH 2017 • ISSUE 515 • PUBLISHED EVERY WEDNESDAY AND SUNDAY PAGE 4 PAUL COCKS BROADCASTING Authority chairperson Tanya Borg Cardo- na resigned after an eight-week standoff with employees who said she was not suitable for the job and accused her of bullying. Borg Cardona's resignation was confirmed by the Office of the Prime Minister, which in a statement said that her resigna- tion letter had been handed to President Marie-Louise Coleiro Preca. Exiting the BA premises in Hamrun after a lengthy board meeting yesterday afternoon, Borg Cardona and other board members refused to give any comments to reporters who were waiting outside the building. The meeting took place while the authority's workers walked out of the offices in protest as the Union Haddiema Maghqudin (UHM) reiterated that Borg Car- dona should either step down or be removed by the Prime Minis- ter. The workers were instructed to walk out of their offices when- ever Borg Cardona shows up. Asked to state whether the board had discussed her position in light of the industrial action launched by the workers, Borg Cardona said she had no com- ments to give. In January, MaltaToday re- ported that the workers were not consulted over the move to new premises in Valletta, a decision which they said was taken by Borg Cardona. MaltaToday also revealed that Borg Cardona was receiving a €6,000 yearly allowance to keep using her personal car for official purposes – instead of making use of the official authority cars. It later transpired that Borg Cardona was also recruited by the government on a position-of- trust basis within the EU Presi- dency unit in clear contrast with the Constitution which says that BA board cannot be public offic- ers. To the very end Borg Cardona denied any conflict of interest and insisted that she always car- ried out her work at the BA with impartiality. Broadcasting Authority chair stands down after lengthy standoff with employees MaltaToday arson reports vindicated as judge throws out Norman Lowell appeal MATTHEW AGIUS THE court of appeal has dismissed an appeal in a libel suit instituted by far-rightist and Holocaust denier Norman Lowell against MaltaToday and upheld the original decision by the Court of Mag- istrates. Lowell had filed an appeal after Magistrate Francesco Depasquale had thrown out the man's original libel suit in October 2015. The libel had been filed after Lowell took exception to three newspaper reports in May 2006 that insinuated that his followers had been behind a spate of arson attacks on journalists and charities. He claimed that the articles had been based on falsehoods and had been written with the aim of damaging him and breaching the principles of freedom of expression and opinion. Lowell had originally filed the libel case against MaltaToday managing editor Saviour Balzan, MaltaToday editor Matthew Vella and journal- ist Kurt Sansone. However, proceedings against the latter were withdrawn after Sansone, who later left the MaltaToday newsroom, had made an apology. Balzan and Vella had argued that the articles were justified by the right to freely report facts of a social and political nature, particularly in view of the "essentially racist" politics of the plaintiff and the importance of the right to "fair comment" in a democratic society. PAGE 2 The embattled Tanya Borg Cardona did not speak to the press as she made her way out of the BA offices ahead of PN representative Peter Fenech Defeated: far-rightist Norman Lowell (left) with his lawyer Emmy Bezzina

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