Sant ordered to pay Lm1,200 libel damages to Louis Galea

Labour Party leader Alfred Sant was yesterday ordered by the First Hall of the Civil Court to pay Lm1,200 libel damages to Education Minister Louis Galea.

Dr Galea filed his libel suit in 1997, claiming he had been libelled by a speech made by Dr Sant on July 24, 1996 while the latter was addressing the members of the local committees and other Labour Party activists at the party`s headquarters.

In his speech, reported in a number of local newspapers and on the radio, Dr Sant had alleged that members of a ministerial delegation had smuggled drugs into the country.

The minister testified and categorically denied that any member of a delegation he had led had brought drugs into the country.

He exhibited a transcript of the speech made by Dr Sant, as broadcast on Super One radio. According to the transcript, Dr Sant had claimed that the police were aware of allegations that certain consignments of drugs had entered the country via people who formed part of a ministerial delegation.

In the speech Dr Sant had invited Dr Galea (who had been a minister in the period indicated by Dr Sant) and all other Nationalist ministers to declare that no members of their delegations had smuggled drugs into the country.

All the persons who had participated in ministerial delegations from May 1987 to the date on which Dr Sant`s allegations were made had filed sworn statements in court denying they had ever imported drugs or had been involved in the importation of drugs into the country. They had also denied they had ever been investigated by the police on this issue.

Dr Galea told the court that at the time Dr Sant`s speech was made, he was Minister of Social Development and was responsible for the fight against drug abuse. He had delayed filing the libel suit so as to give Dr Sant the opportunity to publish the information he said he had. However, Dr Sant had not done so.

On his part, Dr Sant pleaded that the speech was not libellous in Dr Galea`s regard. He also pleaded that the speech constituted fair comment and consisted in an expression of opinion on matters of public interest. The opinion was permissible in a democratic society and was protected in terms of the European Convention of Human Rights.

Dr Sant added that at the time he was acting as a member of parliament and opposition leader and was duty bound to criticise the administration on matters of public interest.

In a sworn statement filed before the court, Dr Sant explained that in 1996 the Labour opposition had criticised the workings of the Nationalist administration. He referred to the presidential pardon granted to a Brazilian convicted drug trafficker in 1994 and the pardon granted to Joseph Fenech.

Dr Sant said he had received information from two independent and trustworthy sources that persons with connections to private secretaries of at least three ministers had allegedly taken advantage of foreign ministerial delegations to traffic in drugs.

He added that in his opinion there were enough known facts, such as the Etienne Gatt case and Ciro del Negro`s diary, to render these allegations credible.

He decided to first mention the Minister of Social Development in this regard as he felt that the workings of this particular ministry were open to criticism.

Journalist Joseph Mifsud testified that in June 1994, while he was head of news at Bay Radio, he had received an anonymous letter containing serious allegations about members of ministerial delegations smuggling drugs into the country.

He had handed over the document to Police Inspector Michael Cassar. This letter, Mifsud said, alleged that Lm15,000 had been paid in order to smuggle the drugs into the country.

The case of Meinrad Calleja had then started in court and del Negro`s diary had been exhibited. Mifsud said that there were circumstances that tallied with the anonymous letter`s content. He had begun his own investigations and had found that on two occasions Etienne Gatt, son of former Nationalist Minister Lawrence Gatt, had been granted facilities to make use of the VIP lounge at the airport.

Calleja had been found guilty of drug trafficking and the agreement to import drugs had been made at Minister Gatt`s office.

Mifsud said he discovered that the anonymous letter had been written by del Negro.

The latter, Mifsud added, had mentioned a number of persons close to Dr Galea, including a certain Norman Bezzina who was Dr Galea`s consultant from 1989. Bezzina was mentioned in the context of the San Raffaele Hospital. Etienne Gatt had introduced del Negro to Bezzina at the Ministry of Social Development, Mifsud had said.

In his judgement, Mr Justice Raymond C. Pace noted that Dr Sant had indicated Dr Galea in his speech and that the speech was definitely libellous in Dr Galea`s regard.

The speech had attributed some very serious facts to Dr Galea and these certainly affected the latter`s integrity and reputation.

The court found that Dr Sant`s plea to the effect that the speech was fair comment could not be allowed for Dr Sant was commenting on facts that were neither true nor proven.

Mr Justice Pace upheld Dr Galea`s writ and ordered Dr Sant to pay the minister Lm1,200 libel damages.

Dr Peter Fenech was counsel to Dr Galea.

Dr Pawlu Lia was counsel to Dr Sant.