Minister libelled via e-mail by columnist

Columnist Claire Bonello was yesterday ordered to pay Infrastructure Minister Austin Gatt €750 in damages after a court found that she had libelled him through an e-mail she circulated in May 2007.

Dr Gatt complained that in an e-mail she had sent to a list of people on the upgrading of Merchants Street in Valletta, Dr Bonello claimed that the project was not moving ahead because he – or a front acting for him – and some of his supporters had bought shops in the area which they planned to convert into cafes with outside street furniture.

Dr Gatt denied that he had any interest in any shop and insisted that the e-mail was a total fabrication.

Dr Bonello argued that there had been a lot of controversy at the time about the project and the relocation of the Valletta market. She said that a newspaper had also wondered whether Dr Gatt had a personal interest in the relocation of the Valletta open market.

Dr Bonello explained that, as a columnist, she received information from many sources. A number of persons had told her that the government was not willing to find a solution to the market issue because Dr Gatt had an interest in one of the establishments in Merchants Street. Such information was known to Dr Gatt and was in the public domain, she claimed.

Dr Bonello added that she had wanted to send the e-mail only to one person but had, by mistake, sent it to many recipients.

Magistrate Joseph Apap Bologna found that the e-mail could be considered as publication because it had been sent to a number of people. He pointed out that Dr Bonello had not sent another e-mail correcting the contents of her first message.

The court concluded that the e-mail was libellous to Dr Gatt.