Updated 4.15pm

A blog written by Daphne Caruana Galizia alleging corruption by former deputy governor of the Central Bank was declared to be defamatory, almost seven years after publication.

The blog, published on June 10, 2016, was titled, “Breaking: Central Bank governor-designate took large amounts of cash from major supplier when he was Mid Med Bank chairman”.

The story referred to the time when Alfred Mifsud was chairman of Mid Med Bank between 1996 and 1998.

Caruana Galizia alleged that Mifsud received thousands of Maltese liri from a Maltese businessman representing an American software company tasked by the bank to change its IT system. 

Mifsud categorically denied those allegations, insisting that the company had won a competitive tender and had been selected by the bank’s board. 

He immediately filed libel proceedings against the journalist to safeguard his reputation, claiming that the sources who gave information to Caruana Galizia were “untrustworthy and motivated by revenge and hate from a failed personal relationship”.

When testifying in the libel proceedings, four months before she was murdered in a car bomb explosion outside her Bidnija home, Caruana Galizia had explained that she was rather surprised when Mifsud’s former partner, Anna Zelbst, had gone to her with the story. 

At the time, the couple’s relationship following their breakup was “an open situation”, the journalist had testified, recalling how Zelbst had claimed to have personally witnessed the handing over of the cash to her former partner at their Balzan home. 

At the time the blog was posted, Mifsud was on pole to become governor of the Central Bank. 

Following publication of Caruana Galizia’s story, he pulled out of the race. 

When testifying in the libel suit, Mifsud explained how his former partner had blackmailed him and threatened to spoil his chances of becoming governor unless he handed over a sum of money and property in Gozo. 

She had threatened to go to the journalist, saying that “This is war like you never experienced. Daphne will now come in very handy,” Mifsud had recalled in court. 

When delivering judgment, magistrate Victor George Axiak, declared that the court had no doubt that Caruana Galizia’s intentions were not wrong and that she truly believed the allegations put to her. 

But, at the same time, the court could not ignore the fact that those allegations were all false and that they caused damage that was not minimal to the applicant. 

The court did not doubt that the journalist was motivated by public interest but the same could not be said about her source whose motive was purely personal. 

Zelbst was also not so consistent and/or convincing when testifying in the libel suit. 

Nor was it proved that the new bank software system had been changed “capriciously” or that Mifsud as chairman had exerted undue pressure for IBM/Eastpoint to be chosen to replace the old system.

Various people had been involved in the selection process and the final decision had been taken by almost unanimous vote at board level, without any interference by the chairman. 

The journalist was hasty when she accepted Zelbst’s statements, especially considering that Mifsud had immediately and categorically denied the allegations. 

When meting out punishment the court also considered that Daphne’s Running Commentary was highly popular, garnering readership even beyond Maltese shores.

The story was thus shared around the globe and was still accessible to date. 

The allegations were very serious, causing Mifsud to lose the opportunity to become Central Bank governor, a post he had long aspired to attain and which he missed once and for all after the story surfaced. 

When all was considered, the court declared the blog defamatory and awarded Mifsud €1,000 in moral damages, payable by Caruana Galizia’s heirs. 

Lawyer Pawlu Lia assisted the applicant.