Updated 6.20pm, adds European Centre for Press and Media Freedom statement

An Italian journalist who has been allegedly threatened by Neville Gafà on social media faced verbal abuse from a group of supporters of the former OPM official as he exited court on Thursday. 

Nello Scavo had just testified in a case in which the police charged Gafà for threatening him when on June 27 he warned the journalist: “Stop your dirty business. If not, we will be stopping you.” 

Scavo has been a frequent critic of Malta’s handling of the migration crisis.

Blogger Manuel Delia, who was accompanying Scavo said that when they came out of court they were met by a crowd of people, a couple of whom were waving Maltese flags.

"They called us names, insulted us with words such as ‘stronzo’ presumably addressed to Scavo, and 'assassin' to me,” he said, adding that there was also “considerable police presence”.

The scene was “not one of a civilised country," Scavo told the media, adding "it is unacceptable that a journalist is threatened and slandered".

Scavo has been facing threats - from fuel and arms smugglers, and human traffickers - since October 2019 and he has been benefiting from police protection since. 

However, this was the first time that he had received threats from a person in the public eye, hailing from an EU country which has “suffered, and is still suffering” from the assassination of journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia. 

He said he was grateful that the Maltese authorities had taken up his case.

Addressing the media in front of the makeshift memorial to Caruana Galizia, Scavo said he wanted to pay tribute to the slain journalist, who remained a source of inspiration to journalists around the world. 

He expressed hope that the court action was part of a process that would protect media freedom – something that Caruana Galizia did not benefit from.

Her “sacrifice” has pushed several young Italians and other Europeans into taking up a journalistic career, challenging power systems, even if this meant risking their lives.

As a Sicilian, he knew what it meant to be a journalist in an environment where criminality could infiltrate politics and power systems. 

“Journalists can be heavily criticised but no one should be allowed to tell a journalist ‘we will stop you’,” he said.

Gafà’s threats discussed by Italy’s parliament

On Thursday, the court heard that Scavo filed a report about Gafà’s comment on August 5.

Scavo told the court, presided by Magistrate Charmaine Galea, that he felt threatened and wanted to know who the people, who will "stop him" from speaking about migration, are.

The journalist recalled that the threat had come after he had said that 95 people who could have been saved overnight had been intercepted by the Libyan authorities, and nine had died. He had urged the European authorities to stop deaths at sea. 

He added that Gafà’s threats have also been discussed by Italy’s parliament. 

Police inspector Lydon Zammit told the court that Gafà had admitted to writing the comment, but said he had no intention of threatening or hurting Scavo. 

The case will continue on October 15. Lawyer Edward Gatt appeared for Gafà while Chris Busietta assisted Scavo.

Federazione Nazzionale Stampa Italiana and the news organisation that Scavo works for, Avvenire, filed to appear parte civile in the case.

'We will not give up because she never did'

Addressing the media after the hearing, Sylvana Debono, president of the Institute of Maltese Journalists said that people had become accustomed to a climate where threatening journalists was not seen as an attack on the fundamental right of freedom of expression.

“We are living in the time of ‘shut up so you won’t be counted’, we are living at a time when we are redefining what is right into what is right for me. If I’m all right, then let the migrants die, let the crooks plunder and the murderers get away with it. 

“That is not the life of a journalist. That is not the life we choose. So, to those who seek to anaesthetise the country through fake positivity, be warned: we are here. We are watching and we will not give up. Because she never did,” she said. 

Robert Aquilina, from Repubblika, meanwhile referred to migrants who cross the Mediterranean sea on boats as the most vulnerable to abuse and exploitation.

“If we too abandon them to their fate in our seas, we’d be participating in the chain of cruelty. Last April, the Maltese government conducted itself abysmally. Several international laws were broken, but more importantly, too many people died. And too many people were sent back to Libya to torture, rape and slavery.

"We would never have known of their fate without the hard work of journalists like Scavo," he said.

“And we need to know. Because governments act on our behalf. By looking away we become accomplices in the unlawful acts of our governments. And we need to know because what our governments will do to the weakest among us, they will do to us when they can afford to,” Aquilina said.

European Centre for Press and Media Freedom condemns insults

The European Centre for Press and Media Freedom condemns the insults Scavo faced as he left the court in Valletta.
 
It welcomed the fact that the judge recognised the editorial staff of Avvenire and the National Federation of the Italian Press (FNSI) as civil parties in the trial, as this gave appropriate recognition “to the chilling effect on media freedom of threats against a reporter, beyond the immediate case at hand”.
 
The centre recalled that the assassination of Caruana Galizia had been preceded by years of verbal threats, attacks on her home, vexatious legal actions and other forms of harassment.

“Verbal threats from government officials and high-profile individuals, in particular, demonise the media and independent scrutiny and can, if unaddressed, lead to physical acts of violence and send a message of impunity,” it said.
 
The centre called on the court to ensure that its decision reflected the gravity of the crime.