Former minister wins Lm600 libel damages

Magistrate Silvio Meli yesterday awarded former Nationalist Minister George Bonello Dupuis Lm600 libel damages after finding that an article written by Alfred Grixti and published in The Times on August 16, 2001 was libellous.

Dr Bonello Dupuis filed his suit claiming the article, headed "Preserving the myth on violence" and written by Grixti, was libellous.

The article claimed that plaintiff had, in the course of a Nationalist Party mass meeting held on August 16, 1998, told PN supporters they should contain their enthusiasm until September 5 and that thereafter "they would burn everything".

Dr Bonello Dupuis categorically denied ever having uttered such words whether on the occasion mentioned by Grixti or on any other occasion in the course of his long political career.

Grixti pleaded that the article contained facts that were substantially true.

Magistrate Meli noted that in order to prove his pleas, Grixti had referred to a clip broadcast on a radio programme conducted by a colleague of his.

Grixti had also verified the contents of his article by checking a video, taken from the archives of One News. The video had been given to Super One TV by unknown persons.

The court also noted that the words attributed to Dr Bonello Dupuis were reproduced in a publication entitled "Gvern ta' l-ingann - Tajjeb li tkun taf" (A government of deception - Your right to know), written by Emmanuel Cuschieri and published by the information division of the Malta Labour Party.

The court expressed concern at the attitude adopted by Grixti, noting that he had not carried out the verifications required by law. The source of information on which an article was based had to be subject to verification, for the principal aim of such an article had to be the exposition of facts and not the exposition of a truth that suited the author.

The sources on which Grixti had relied were not only lacking intellectual objectivity but were also tarnished because they consisted of a repeated affirmation of a thought that had originated in the circles which Grixti frequented.

Magistrate Meli pointed out that the video exhibited by Grixti was proven to have been censored by unknown parties so as to reflect the allegations made by Grixti in his article.

It resulted that Dr Bonello Dupuis' speech had been much longer than the excerpt contained in the video and that the difference between the version submitted by Dr Bonello Dupuis and that submitted by Grixti was clear.

The editing of the video recording had completely changed the meaning of Dr Bonello Dupuis's speech. Consequently, Grixti's plea that the article contained facts that were true could not be upheld.

The court concluded by finding that the article was libellous and condemned Grixti to pay plaintiff Lm600 libel damages.