The government is refusing to provide the names of guests who were invited into the VVIP area at a reception at the Upper Barrakka Gardens during last weekend’s Independence celebrations, citing data protection issues.
This is a question of freedom of information,I can’t see how data protection comes into it
The request for the list of names was made by The Sunday Times of Malta after it emerged President Emeritus Eddie Fenech Adami and former prime minister Lawrence Gonzi were among the high-profile individuals kept out of the area, where guests were able to meet the visiting Prince William.
Both men have had personal interaction with Queen Elizabeth II, whom Prince William was representing.
Dr Fenech Adami, in particular, has known her for many years and was even invited to tea by the British monarch while on a private visit to Scotland several years ago.
Meanwhile, people close to the Labour Party were seen mingling with other guests in the VVIP area, including Office of the Prime Minister officials Cyrus Engerer and Glenn Bedingfield as well as Phyllis Muscat, head of the CHOGM taskforce.
The Office of the Prime Minister provided this newspaper with a generic guest list, which included the top echelons of the political class as well as NGOs and the two bishops.
Yet, when asked who was actually allowed in, it said this “is not possible due to data protection issues”.
A data protection law expert, lawyer Michael Zammit Maempel, said such information fell outside the scope of data protection law.
“This is a question of freedom of information, I can’t see how data protection comes into this,” he said.
The Data Protection Act states the identity of people cannot be disclosed without their consent: it refers to cases when an individual has given their personal data to an entity for a specific purpose, and ensures that data is not abused.
“Data protection law doesn’t really come into this because the information is in the public domain. The government has invited people into a public area.
“The people could be seen and identified. Their identity is already in the public domain,” Dr Zammit Maempel said.
On the night, images of guests surrounding Prince William were even projected on to the bastion walls.
The number of people in the area around the prince was restricted at the request of British security, the government had said.
But since these were national celebrations, sources said it was the government that decided who should enter the area.
The gardens were divided into sections, with the balcony being the site where the President, the Prime Minister and Prince William greeted the top guests.
Dr Fenech Adami and Dr Gonzi were directed to another section of the gardens.