Transport Minister Joe Mizzi.Transport Minister Joe Mizzi has lost a libel suit he filed against Liberal Alliance leader John Zammit after a magistrate declared that politicians should expect close scrutiny of their every move.
In January 2011, when he was Opposition spokesman for transport, Mr Mizzi had accused Mr Zammit of making defamatory allegations in his regard on the website mintoffjani.webs.com.
There was no evidence to suggest that it was Mr Zammit who had written the comments, Magistrate Francesco Depasquale said in his judgment. The court also referred to European case law stating that politicians should display a greater degree of tolerance once they were public figures. Their “every word and deed” was open to close scrutiny by both journalists and the public.
The magistrate underlined that “it is clear from [European] case law that the right to freedom of expression is applicable not only to information or ideas that are favourably received or regarded as inoffensive or as a matter of indifference but also to those that offend, shock or disturb the State or any sector of the population”.
The magistrate said that everyone should have the right to express their opinion about the behaviour of politicians without fear of being faced with libel proceedings.
Magistrate Depasquale declared that the comments were not libellous and that there was no proof that Mr Zammit had actually written them.