One TV editor Aleander Balzan has been ordered to fork out €1,000 by way of damages to radio presenter and Nationalist candidate David Thake over a news bulletin report that was judged to have been defamatory.
The news item aired on March 17, 2015 cast doubt upon the acquisition by Vanilla Telecoms, the company chaired by Mr Thake, of a contract to provide a wi-fi system to the Institute for Tourism Studies back in 2011.
Following allegations that the company benefited from a direct order, Mr Thake had instituted libel proceedings against the TV station.
In the news report, it was alleged that it was "curious and not normal" for such a substantial contract involving €52,500 and possibly totaling €56,600, to be awarded by direct order.
In an affidavit presented in the records of the case, Mr Balzan had declared that the permanent secretary within the Education Ministry did not normally award such a substantial contract simply on the basis of a direct order. Experienced civil servants had explained that such a contract would have required various approvals.
One TV had put forward no evidence except for Mr Balzan's affidavit in support of its allegations
It had also been pointed out that in January 2015, the Institute for Tourism Studies had opted for a different and cheaper wi-fi service which had been described as "satisfactory" by a student who had spoken to the newsroom.
However, the court, presided over by magistrate Francesco Depasquale, noted that One TV had put forward no evidence except for Mr Balzan's affidavit in support of its allegations. The court observed that "at the very least, the respondent would have been expected to present the parliamentary question", which sparked off the report.
On the contrary, Mr Thake had presented clear evidence that his bid had gone through all regular tendering procedures and had been judged as the most favourable of the four bids submitted.
The court noted that the “curious and not normal” comment could not be deemed as being a fair comment nor a value judgment since the allegation was not based on facts that were “substantially true.”
Since in this case the editor had not corroborated his allegation by well-researched arguments, the court concluded the report was defamatory, intended only to tarnish the reputation of the applicant. For this reason, it condemned One TV to pay Mr Thake €1,000 by way of compensation for damages.