Former prime minister Joseph Muscat on Monday described a Facebook post by lawyer Christian Grima as “totally defamatory” in his regard because it implied that he killed or was involved in the assassination of Daphne Caruana Galizia.

Muscat was testifying in a libel suit triggered by comments made by the lawyer when reacting to a video clip by Muscat’s wife, Michelle, in which she spoke about “what happened to” the journalist.

Grima wrote in May 2020: “What happened to her? Your husband blew her up. That’s what happened to her.”

Muscat filed a defamation suit against Grima, a former schoolmate of his.

When testifying in the proceedings, Muscat said Grima’s comment definitely crossed a “red line.” 

That Facebook reaction was not a political judgment but a defamatory statement made in a gratuitous manner by Grima. 

The damage was clear since he was placed in the same position as the murderer. It was a comment that had repercussions both on a personal as well as a professional basis, Muscat concluded.

Grima’s lawyer, Carl Grech, said his client's remarks were not intended to signify that Muscat himself had placed some bomb beneath Caruana Galizia’s car, or that he somehow pressed the button to detonate the bomb.

The journalist was murdered in a car bomb in October 2017.

Grima was referring to a resolution by the European Parliament as well as the conclusions of the public inquiry stating that Muscat’s government had created or permitted a violent environment and a sense of impunity which resulted in the assassination of Caruana Galizia,  a journalist who uncovered corruption. 

Muscat’s lawyer, Pawlu Lia, rebutted that such situations sparked hatred and triggered possible consequences. And the inquiry report into the murder of Caruana Galizia had not been published at the time that comment was written. 

At the start of the hearing, the parties informed the court, presided over by magistrate Victor George Axiak, that there had been discussions with the aim of reaching an amicable solution.

Grima’s lawyer had communicated a written note to Lia for that purpose. However, it appeared that there was still some disagreement over a particular paragraph in that note.

In light of that, the proceedings continued, with Muscat’s lawyer saying that they were still open to an amicable solution.

The case continues in November.