The publisher of a satirical news site facing contempt of court proceedings has stood by a controversial social media post labelling Yorgen Fenech’s legal team “mafia lawyers”.
Tongue-in-cheek ‘news’ site Bis-Serjetà is expected to face contempt of court proceedings after Fenech’s lawyers complained to magistrate Rachel Montebello about a meme uploaded on Facebook referring to them as “Mafia lawyers”.
The publisher of the site, who preferred to remain anonymous, told Times of Malta that the attribution of the term "mafia" to the case was widespread.
“On Bis-Serjetà I only satirise what is already in the public consciousness. If the courts had to go after everyone who has used the word ‘mafia’ in the context of what’s been revealed over the past year, then they’re going to have to expand Kordin [Correctional Facility] considerably,” he said.
The publisher also encouraged readers to subscribe to the Bis-Serjetà page on Patreon, a funding website for artists, to help cover legal fees related to the case.
The satirical post in question is a meme which references Fenech’s legal team after one of his lawyers engaged in an online quarrel with Mark Camilleri, the National Book Council chairman last month.
The contentious post reads: “Government urges people not to be rude to Mafia lawyers” and features a photo-montage of Fenech and his lawyers. It was accompanied with the tagline “Just be nicer to mafiosi, guys. They’re people too.”
If found guilty, the anonymous operator of the site and social media page faces up to one month in prison and a potential fine of €2,329.
Soon after news broke of the complaint, the satirical page began receiving messages of support.
Camilleri, whose verbal tussle with a member of Fenech's legal team had inspired the post, offered to cover the site’s legal fees.
“Today, I have committed to pay the full fine for Bis-Serjetà if effected. I’ll stand with my friends against the mafia as always. We don’t fear them and we need to show it,” Camilleri wrote on Facebook.
'I know we will eventually win'
Wesley Ellul, one of the brains behind the popular Comedy Knights comedy shows, said the threat of actual prison time satirists faced was minimal.
Speaking to Times of Malta, Ellul said he expected the Bis-Serjetà team to receive a slap on the wrist and to move on from the experience.
Asked whether the court proceedings could have a chilling effect, Ellul said it could create a new headache for satirists.
“This will have put ideas in the heads of public individuals to try and attack if they don't like something we [comedians] say. More than anything, this may cause hassles with court cases and associated costs, unless the actual law changes. I know we will eventually win,” he said.
Ellul said the Comedy Knights were careful to ensure they avoided legal disputes, opting to use people’s own words rather than put words in their mouths.
That said, he was quick to applaud Bis-Serjetà for producing consistently funny satire and chalked the incident down to the site having chosen the wrong words to accompany a Facebook post.
Media must 'tread carefully' - lawyers
Lawyers specialised in the area of media freedom and freedom of speech meanwhile warned that public commentary could be weaponised by defence lawyers in criminal cases.
Preferring to remain anonymous because of the nature of the case, two lawyers said they were concerned that consistently libellous commentary could be used by Fenech’s defence team to argue that their client’s rights to the presumption of innocence and a fair trial had been breached.
While both were reluctant to appear to advocate censorship, the two experienced lawyers both encouraged the public to “tread carefully” when writing about murder cases in public fora.
What does the ruling say?
A closer look at magistrate Montebello’s decree sheds some light on how the satirical site landed in hot legal water.
According to the decree, the magistrate has asked the registrar to initiate proceedings on the basis of Articles 1003 and 995 of the Code of Organisation and Civil Procedure (COCP) which cover the rules for contempt of court.
Most of the articles under the section relate to matters that occur within the court, such as insulting the court or disturbing the flow of proceedings. Article 995 deals with contempt of court in relation to attacks on lawyers, as officials of the court presiding over the case.
The original application drawn up by Fenech’s legal team, which cited articles by several local publications including Times of Malta, was filed on December 16. However, the contentious Bis-Serjetà post was only published to social media on the following day, December 17.
In her decree, magistrate Montebello referred to an additional note filed by Fenech’s team on December 18, which sources say included a screenshot of the social media post in question.
Times of Malta among news outlets featured in complaint
The other publications complained about by Fenech’s team include news items carried by Times of Malta, MaltaToday, Newsbook, LovinMalta, Manueldelia.com, The Shift as well as Facebook posts by Matthew Caruana Galizia and his aunt Corrine Vella.
The Times of Malta report in question was an exclusive report about former chief financial regulator Joe Cuschieri travelling to Las Vegas to holiday with Fenech. Cuschieri resigned as MFSA chief shortly after the report was published last year.