A news story published by One Media claiming that Special Olympics athletes were targeted for insults during a Republic Day protest were a manifest lie, civil society activist and blogger Manuel Delia insisted in court during libel proceedings on Wednesday.

The story run by the Labour media said that “on Republic Day, it was not only the police and members of the Armed Forces who landed the insults while carrying out their duties,” but also participants in the Special Olympics who “happened to be entering the Presidential Palace to receive their medal”.

The protest was organised by civil society group Repubblika. 

Testifying in the proceedings, Mr Delia explained that “at no time” had the protesters seen any of the athletes. The only persons who had walked along the closed-off area of Republic Street were policemen, soldiers, the president and his entourage. 

Mr Delia filed the libel suit against Jason Micallef, chairman of One Media,  Ruth Vella, as broadcasting executive group head and Owen Galea, as head of news and current affairs at One Productions Ltd. He claimed that not only was the story “untrue” but it was also “defamatory and libelous”, intended to tarnish his reputation and also to “put him in danger”.

He also denied that the protest had been violent, as claimed.  

“Absolutely no. There was no violence, no throwing of stones or coins, no intimidation. I saw no one do that and no one saw me do likewise.

“This is a manifest lie intended to discredit me because I was identifiable as one of the leaders of the protest,” said Mr Delia, adding that the photo placed under the story title had focused on him.

“Jason Micallef is a public official, using resources to discredit me. We had no visibility of those entering the Palace. That was out of bounds. St George’s Square was not accessible.”

Paul Borg Olivier, a lawyer who was also present at the protest and who happened to feature standing behind Mr Delia in the photo accompanying the allegedly defamatory article, also confirmed that “no civilians and no persons with special needs” had walked past the protesters. 

Mr Delia's lawyer, Andrew Borg Cardona, who had also attended the protest, said that no civilians had walked past the crowds of protesters. He said the protesters were fenced off and kept away from Palace Square. 

The case continues in March. 

Lawyer Pawlu Lia assisted Mr Micallef.