Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/844299
maltatoday, SUNDAY, 2 JULY 2017 News TIM DIACONO A number of changes took place behind the scenes at ministries in the wake of Labour's election vic- tory, with MaltaToday informed that these were the result of di- rections from Castille. Economy minister Chris Car- dona has removed Mario Azzo- pardi as his chief of staff, re- placing him with Jeremy Dalli – the managing director of the Footloose and Qube Vodka Bar nightclubs in Paceville and a board member of the Malta In- dustrial Parks. Azzopardi, a clothes store owner, had found himself in the media spotlight last year, after he agreed to personally refund a €318 minibar bill that had been paid through the public purse during a three-day official visit to Dubai with Cardona and his personal assistant, Dana Bon- nici. Foreign affairs minister Car- melo Abela has removed An- thony Vella Gregory, a former high official at Mid-Med Bank and later HSBC, as his chief of staff. In his place comes Arthur Garrard, who was also employed with HSBC – the bank Abela himself had been a manager at before his ministerial appoint- ment in 2014. Sandro Mangion, a former editor-in-chief of l-Orizzont, has been promoted from Abela's political coordinator for interna- tional affairs to being his private secretary. Social solidary minister Mi- chael Falzon, a former executive head of BOV's legal office, has also decided to employ a for- mer banking colleague, Richard Dimech, as his chief of staff. Di- mech, previously executive head of BOV's business centre and Val- letta branch, had been seconded to the office of President George Abela between 2008 and 2013, and later joined Michael Falzon's team after he was appointed par- liamentary secretary for plan- ning. Louis Gatt, the head of the La- bour Party's Electoral Office, has been appointed as Falzon's private secretary – the same po- sition he had occupied when Fal- zon was parliamentary secretary. Meanwhile, home affairs minis- ter Michael Farrugia has removed Anthony Ellul as his private sec- retary, with a spokesperson con- firming with MaltaToday that no replacement has yet been ap- pointed in his stead. tdiacono@mediatoday.com.mt Appeals Court confirms libel decision THE court of appeals has con- firmed a libel decision in which PN organ In-Nazzjon was found to have libelled the Prime Minis- ter's chief of staff, Keith Schembri, in an article published in Novem- ber 2014. In the sentence handed down by Judge Anthony Ellul, the court of appeals said that insinuations in the article tried to cast a dark shadow over Schembri in an ar- ticle that he would not have been mentioned at all, if he had not been the Prime Minister's chief of staff. In-Nazzjon had ran a report on how Ryan Schembri, the fugitive former co-owner of More super- markets, has been in telephone contact with a "particular person" and reassured that he and his fam- ily are safe. However, the newspaper pub- lished the photo of Keith Schembri alongside that of Ryan Schembri as the two happen to be cousins and the newspaper alleged that the two had common business interests in Libya and that the OPM's Chief of Staff was aware of the phone call his cousin made. Keith Schembri had denied the allegations and said the report was "false and made-up." Post-election shake-ups in ministries' private secretariats Chris Cardona with Mario Azzopardi