Allied Newspapers Limited is to take legal action for defamation against its former journalist, Ivan Camilleri, following a series of "untrue and libellous" statements made by him and issued to media houses and on social media.

Camilleri was fired in December.

On Thursday, he filed a judicial protest claiming wrongful dismissal and seeking compensation.

In a statement announcing the legal action, the former journalist said that he was dismissed after “resisting, mostly alone, external and internal forces troubled with the truth”. He also alleged that “some of the top brass at Allied Newspapers conspired and fabricated stories about me to settle what they intended to do for many years”. 

Allied Newspapers said that the above claims have no basis in fact and are a complete figment of Camilleri’s imagination.

The company said that the facts are as follows:

  • Camilleri had committed several acts of gross misconduct spanning a number of years, including the leaking of sensitive information to third parties.

  • In October 2019, a report published in Malta Today alleged that Camilleri had been involved in a shoplifting incident at Valyou supermarket. After the journalist denied the allegations to the management of Allied Newspapers, the company had issued a statement in support of him. However, after new evidence came to light in December, it transpired that Camilleri had not been honest about the incident, causing the company to retract the statement. 

  • Over the past years, there were also other cases brought to the company’s attention involving various incidents of unacceptable conduct by Camilleri in relation to his work colleagues for which he had received ample due written warnings. Several of these colleagues, past and present, are prepared to testify against Camilleri in court.

The decision to terminate Camilleri’s employment was not taken lightly, but was forced on Allied Newspapers due to several unacceptable acts of gross misconduct, all of which amounted to a complete betrayal of the company’s journalistic principles.

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