Civil society activist Manuel Delia testified on Tuesday that a story published by One Media claiming that Special Olympics athletes were insulted during the 2019 Republic Day protests, “demonised” him.
Delia was facing cross-examination in libel proceedings he instituted over the story. The story was accompanied by a picture of him among the crowd, which had allegedly taken aim at “individuals who had nothing to do with the purpose behind such protests”.
Among those were Special Olympics athletes who “happened to be entering the Presidential Palace to receive their medal,” the story went.
Those protests, organised by civil society group Repubblika and manueldelia.com, were calling for the resignation of then Prime Minister Joseph Muscat and other high-ranking public figures in the wake of revelations following the arrest of Yorgen Fenech as an alleged accomplice in the murder of Daphne Caruana Galizia, said Delia.
Asked by the respondents’ lawyer, Pawlu Lia, whether the protest organisers were aware that official State functions were also scheduled at the same time on that December 13 public holiday, Delia replied in the affirmative.
Enough space for both functions in Valletta
“We were not going to disturb. There was enough space in Valletta for both. And, in fact, the functions went ahead.”
There were other persons in Valletta, attending those functions “ …or even going for a pizza,” rebutted Delia, when asked if he was aware that other persons present in Valletta might not have shared the protesters’ view.
Those urged to join the protest on Republic Street had made their voices heard and had also held up placards, calling for the resignation of particular public figures.
“Such calls for resignations may have been deemed as insults by others,” said Lia, while questioning how the witness had been targeted by the allegedly defamatory article.
The story was accompanied by a photo showing Delia, alongside Paul Borg Olivier and his wife.
“What’s wrong with that photo,” pressed on Lia.
Reference in photo
The photo, published by One Media right under the title, which said that “Special Olympics athletes were insulted during Republic Day protests,” had to be taken in context, said Delia.
It made him clearly identifiable and when taken within the context of the title and rest of the story, the effect was such as to “demonise” him, Delia continued.
It would really take such a kind of person to hurl insults at persons with a disability, he added.
“So whoever sees me, would see me as a demon,” said Delia, adding that it was an outright lie that the protesters were insulting the Special Olympics athletes that day.
“But where in the article are you mentioned,” insisted Lia.
“The reference is in the photo,” countered Delia, reading out from the article and calling out the allegations therein “totally false”.
“So you were not mentioned anywhere except in the photo,” intervened the court.
“That photo meant that anyone spotting me in the street who does not know my name, would still identify me,” replied the witness.
The story also made reference to “foul words” allegedly directed towards members of parliament whose cars were targeted by “stones and coins” during other civil society protests in Valletta at the time.
That was “totally untrue”, said Delia.
“Did police take action about all that throwing of stones, coins and so forth?” asked the applicants’ lawyer Andrew Borg Cardona.
“That day, the police official in charge of the site had later contacted us, thanking us and saying that all went well,” concluded the applicant.
The libel suit was instituted against Jason Micallef, as executive chairman of One Media, Ruth Vella, broadcasting executive group head and Owen Galea, head of news and current affairs at One Productions Ltd.
The case continues in April.