Health and Energy Minister Konrad Mizzi yesterday described as “false, outrageous and damaging” a blogger’s claims that he was having an affair with his public relations officer.

He said his marriage with his wife, Sai Mizzi Liang, was “strong”, despite the long-distance relationship.

“Just because we spend time apart does not mean the marriage is not a strong one,” he told Magistrate Francesco Depasquale.

Dr Mizzi was testifying in libel proceedings he filed against blogger Daphne Caruana Galizia over a blog posted last November in which she alleged that the minister was having an affair with his communications coordinator, Lindsey Gambin, a former One TV journalist.

Describing the entire post as “a lie from beginning to end”, Dr Mizzi vehemently denied ever kissing Ms Gambin or ever engaging in an “intimate embrace” as alleged by the blogger. He said the only relationship he had with Ms Gambin was a professional one.

“[The blogger] said the relationship with Lindsey Gambin was an open secret among members of the press and politicians but this is far from an open secret as it is completely absurd.

Ms Caruana Galizia concocted a story and gave it colour with this lie

“Worse still, she claimed that we were seen in an intimate embrace. This is a blatant lie, beyond imagination. I never kissed her or intimately embraced her,” he told the court.

Dr Mizzi said that being his communications coordinator and also responsible for the implementation of projects, Ms Gambin regularly accompanied him to meetings, including to the Cigar Room at the Portomaso Tower, where Ms Caruana Galizia claimed he had been seen hugging and kissing Ms Gambin.

He said the blogger’s claims that he had left the Sliema matrimonial home a few weeks after the 2013 general election after his marriage had gone “belly up” was also a lie.

“Another lie is that my marriage broke down. The fact that she [Sai Mizzi] lives abroad doesn’t mean our marriage is not strong. We have a family together, two kids and we meet regularly,” he said.

He also denied that Ms Gambin had accompanied him on a trip to Beijing for discussions with Chinese firm Shanghai Electric over the purchase of a minority shareholding in State energy provider Enemalta.

“Ms Caruana Galizia concocted a story and gave it colour with this lie,” he said during his testimony for which Ms Gambin was present.

“It was not only an attack on me personally but also an attack on my family and my marriage,” he said.

Dr Mizzi said the blog in question was defamatory on a number of levels. Primarily, on a personal level because it put into doubt his marriage and he did not want his wife to get any “strange ideas” or doubt their marriage.

It was also damaging to his career as a politician as he depended on people’s votes to get elected and such stories could sow doubts in voters’ minds.

“It is also damaging because I work with her everyday and I do not want people to give me bad looks if they ever see us together at meetings,” he said.

The Mizzi couple as well as Ms Gambin had filed libel proceedings on the day the blog appeared claiming that the article was libellous and aimed to tarnish their reputation, apart from being untrue.

Dr Mizzi later also testified before Magistrate Depasquale in two other libel cases he filed against Opposition Leader Simon Busuttil and Nationalist Party spokesman George Pullicino over comments regarding his connection to ministry employee Louis Attard.

Mr Attard had been charged over the police investigation regarding tampered smart meters. They had claimed there was some kind of interference so that Mr Attard was charged with a lesser charge.

“Louis Attard is not close to me as being alleged. He is not from my electoral district and I did not appoint him to any position. I found him there when I became minister and any promotions and allowances were given to him under the previous administration,” he insisted.

He said the claim that he had interfered with the course of justice, as Dr Busuttil allegedly claimed during a Dissett programme in November last year, was “a very serious allegation” that was “untrue”.

“I had no relationship whatsoever with Mr Attard and I never spoke to the police or anyone about his case,” he said.

The cases continue.

Lawyer Aaron Mifsud Bonnici appeared for Dr Mizzi and lawyer Alex Sciberras appeared for Ms Gambin.