Court rules newspaper failed to verify its reports on Bical

A magistrate who ordered a newspaper editor to pay Dom Mintoff Lm250 libel damages found that reports had been published without first verifying the facts.

Malta Today editor Saviour Balzan was found guilty of libelling Mintoff in a series of articles carried in Malta Today and an article in the Circle, published between August 24 and October 12, 2003. The case was filed on October 13, 2003.

The court, presided over by Magistrate Silvio Meli, noted that the articles claimed that Mintoff secretly planned the financial collapse of Bical because Cecil Pace, who controlled the bank, refused to collaborate with Mintoff when he was Prime Minister, refused to become a Malta Labour Party candidate and had also failed to transfer a substantial number of shares to Mintoff.

The court noted that Balzan published interviews with Pace without verifying any of the facts.

From evidence produced, it resulted that at the time, Malta was building its institutions. Bical was one of the main banks and one of the bank's senior managers was involved in transactions to help finance a printing press for the Nationalist Party without being authorised and without informing his superiors.

It also resulted that the bank was in grave financial difficulties and that inspections by the Central Bank showed that statements from Hambros Bank were found to have been printed at Tudor Press, which belonged to Pace.

Action was then taken according to law.

The court noted that the allegations published by Balzan were not proven and that Mintoff, as Prime Minister, had the responsibility to act and take action on objective issues resulting from investigations.

The articles in question were defamatory and their contents could have been verified or checked but Balzan did not do any of it.

When the air was cleared, Balzan and Mintoff tried to solve the case amicably but did not manage "because of a peripheral issue".