An article written by independent politician Arnold Cassola about an Italian businessman, suspected of laundering mafia funds in Malta, was deemed not defamatory by a court observing that it was in the public interest for Maltese police to seriously investigate such matters so as to clear the country’s reputation. 

Bruno Tucci, an industrial chemist by profession, had filed a libel suit over a story penned by Cassola and published on MaltaToday’s website in July 2021, titled “Will Robert be his own man or continue in Joseph’s footsteps?” 

That article was written against the background of Malta’s greylisting by the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) which had pinpointed various factors, namely tax evasion, money laundering and anonymous beneficiaries behind Maltese-registered companies.

Cassola claimed that those issues were allowed to proliferate under former Prime Minister Joseph Muscat’s administration and questioned whether his successor, Robert Abela, would address the matter seriously to clear the country of the scandals which tarnished its reputation. 

In this light, the author questioned whether Maltese police had investigated or intended to investigate locally registered companies suspected by Italian authorities of involvement in criminal activities with links to the mafia. 

That was when a reference was made to Tucci as a shareholder of two companies in Malta. 

One of those operated import-export trade while the other company imported ecological equipment. 

Although an ordinary reader may well distinguish between suspicion and a declaration of guilt, implying that Tucci was suspected by Italian police of involvement in organised crime did cast a negative light on the applicant’s character and integrity. 

However, Tucci did not prove that he had suffered financial or tangible harm or that his reputation was negatively impacted in a concrete manner. 

Defamation law targets the potential effect of such a publication which “tends to lower the plaintiff in the estimation of right-thinking members of society generally”.

Cassola raised the plea that his claims were true, producing documents showing that in 2005 the Italian Carabinieri had tapped Tucci’s phone. 

Intercepted calls revealed a link between Tucci and Nicola Della Corte who acted as an intermediary for Nicola Schiavone, son of the “Schiavone” clan boss, also known as “il clan dei Casalesi”.

Cassola produced a copy of a document filed before the Anti-Mafia Tribunal in Naples requesting an extension of that phone tapping.

A business card of Tucci was found in a wallet belonging to the Mafia boss’s son triggering investigations that placed him in the centre of suspected laundering of Camorra funds by investing in immovable property in Malta. 

Tucci’s companies, which have since ceased to exist, had not filed audited accounts for years. 

Cassola also produced copies of articles published by reputable international media houses which mentioned Tucci and the phone tapping by Italian authorities. 

The court, presided over by Magistrate Rachel Montebello, upheld Cassola’s plea about the veracity of his claims. 

Opinion 'expressed without malice'

As for Cassola’s comment that the police in Malta ought to investigate Tucci, the court deemed that to be an honest opinion expressed by the author based on information published in various foreign newspapers.

Those articles were the result of investigative journalism and when taken together amounted to privileged publications on a matter that was undoubtedly of public interest. 

Those stories were still available online.

When all was considered, the court was “fully convinced” that the respondent had succeeded in proving that an honest person could reach the same conclusion as he had expressed in his article, namely that Tucci ought to be investigated by the police in Malta. 

That opinion was expressed without malice and there was nothing to show that Cassola did not believe what he wrote, throwing out Tucci’s libel claims. 

Moreover, it was certainly a matter of public interest for the police to take action and investigate serious issues of tax evasion and money laundering as well as alleged infiltration of organised crime in Malta.

This would help clear the country’s reputation that was tarnished by the scandals that went uninvestigated under the previous administration, concluded the court.