Updated 12.50pm with Borg Olivier's reaction

A Facebook post by former Nationalist Party general secretary Paul Borg Olivier directed at Parliamentary Secretary Julia Farrugia has drawn protests from the women's section of the Labour Party.

Dr Borg Olivier uploaded a photo of the meeting between the #Occupyjustice movement and the Prime Minister on Wednesday for which Ms Farrugia was present.

He accompanied the photo with a caption: "Julia Farrugia Portelli looks uncomfortable listening about political murders. Who knows the reason why? Her face betrays her."

The Nisa Laburisti said it was clear that Dr Borg Olivier was making a claim built on a lie, and in the wake of which Ms Farrugia Portelli had already won a court case.

Last May, slain blogger Daphne Caruana Galizia lost an appeal in a libel suit filed by Ms Farrugia Portelli for a series of posts which were confirmed as defamatory.

Paul Borg Olivier

The posts, as well as a number of comments, had linked Ms Farrugia Portelli's father to the murder of Raymond Caruana, a Nationalist activist who was hit by gunfire aimed at the facade of the party's club in Gudja in 1986.

Ms Farrugia Portelli's father had been indicated by a witness in court as the person who had allegedly fired the submachine gun at the PN club. The witness, Gianni Psaila, was later found dead at the pit of a lift shaft.

The Nisa Laburisti said that Dr Borg Olivier was consistent in his bullying and had in the past also attacked the Prime Minister's wife in a sexist manner, a post he had later retracted and apologised for. 

This, the section said, was a systematic case of bullying and intimidation by the Nationalist Party.

President Claudette Abela Baldacchino also urged members of #Occupyjustice (a women's movement) to speak out about Dr Borg Olivier's post and to condemn such bullying, wherever it was coming from.

It was a fair comment - Borg Olivier

In a reply, Dr Borg Olivier said it was only Ms Farrugia who drew a parallel between her post and the libel case.

"My comment was in no way one of intimidation or bullying. It was an observation and a fair comment based on facts as clarified in a reply to the comments made by Julia Farrugia herself. Footage clearly showed Julia Farrugia in a very uncomfortable position, like all the rest, also taking Owen Bonnici's place in protocol, possibly to favour the Prime Minister in having two women sit by his side."

He provided his Facebook post reactions to show that the comment was in no way taken to be understood in "the same exclusive manner" that upset Ms Farrugia.

"Perhaps the Nisa Laburisti should also comment on the complete disregard for the rule of law as a result of a manipulative style of governance that has led to the terrible assassination of Daphne Caruana Galiza, and stand in with the members of #occupyjustice calling for the resignation of the Police Commissioner and the Attorney General."