Activist Manuel Delia has “categorically” rebutted claims that a blog post he penned last month, about corruption allegations linked to self-suspended minister Rosianne Cutajar, was a misogynistic attack for which the Labour MP deserved an apology. 

On Monday, Delia filed a judicial protest against the Commission on Gender-Based Violence and Domestic Violence over a Facebook post whereby it claimed that the blogger’s article titled ‘#dimplechin’, published on March 25, amounted to a “malicious act” instigating hatred.

The commission accused Delia of “misogyny” and said that the former Parliamentary Secretary “deserved an apology.”

But Delia hit back against such “unfounded claim”, refusing to be labelled as “misogynistic” and pointing out that he was involved in campaigning for equal rights between men and women. 

He would have reacted similarly if the allegations had concerned a male minister, said Delia, adding that Cutajar’s gender “could not shield her from scrutiny by civil society”.

Moreover, the commission, appointed by the former minister herself, had acted beyond its powers when uploading such a post on its own Facebook page, thereby interfering in the scrutiny of politicians by journalists. 

Such a post produced a chilling effect that, no matter how weak, was unacceptable in a democratic society, said the blogger, calling upon the commission to remove its post and also to declare whether that comment reflected its formal stance. 

The least he would have expected was for such a government organisation to consult him about his writing before publishing its own “unfounded” conclusions, said Delia, reserving the right to take further legal action including that of suing for defamation.

Lawyer Evelyn Borg Costanzi signed the judicial protest.