Outspoken Malta Book Council chairman Mark Camilleri has been asked to resign by the Education Ministry after uploading a tense exchange with one of murder suspect Yorgen Fenech’s lawyers. 

Permanent Secretary Frank Fabri emailed Camilleri on Wednesday evening, telling Camilleri he expects him step down from his position with immediate effect. 

“In light of what you published in the public domain and what has been reported in the media and what is certainly not exemplary to the public and educational sector, I am asking you to consider you position in the National Book Council and resign your post out of your own free will,” Fabri wrote.  

Camilleri however wrote back saying he has no intention of resigning and that he plans to call the National Writers’ Congress on Thursday so that local publishers and authors can decide for themselves whether they have faith in him.   

Earlier on Wednesday, Camilleri published screenshots of a conversation he had with a lawyer working for Yorgen Fenech, who stands accused of conspiracy in the murder of journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia.  

In the exchange, the lawyer, Juliette Galea, wrote to Camilleri on Facebook Messenger, arguing that he ought to read a legal letter filed by Fenech’s legal team about the public inquiry into the murder of Caruana Galizia. 

Camilleri’s response, replete with expletives, comes a day after he uploaded a tweet saying the Caruana Galizia inquiry should continue once the government had nothing to hide. 

He posted the exchange on Facebook but these were soon taken down by the social media network. 

He subsequently posted screenshots of the exchange on his personal blog.  

This is not Camilleri’s first run in with the Education Ministry.  

Back in 2019 he had threatened to resign over what he claimed was government interference.