TMI ordered to pay Nexia BT auditors, Keith Schembri €8,000 over HSBC statement report
The Malta Independent has been ordered to pay €8,000 in damages to OPM chief of staff Keith Schembri, Kasco Ltd director Malcolm Scerri, and Nexia BT auditors Brian Tonna and Karl Cini in two libel cases.
The suits were filed against The Malta Independent on Sunday’s then content director Pierre Portelli, editor David Lindsay, and online editor Stephen Calleja, arguing that a news report it had carried was libellous and defamatory.
The Malta Independent on Sunday was following up on a blog post published by one of its columnists, the late Daphne Caruana Galizia, and claimed that HSBC Bank Malta was expected to launch an investigation into the possible fraudulent presentation of documents concerning Schembri and Scerri.
The newspaper’s report attempted to cast doubt on the validity of two HSBC information reports, citing the fact that a letterhead bore the name of a branch which had closed.
In both cases, Magistrate Francesco Depasquale held that the defendants had opted to publish nearly all of the original blog post:
“The defendants could have easily restricted their article to the first paragraph of the story, which in actual fact was the only ‘investigation’ which the writer made before reproducing the story which had already been published some days before – but this was not done.
“Instead, the author chose to emphasise… that there was going to be an investigation by HSBC on that which he described as ‘alleged fraudulent documents vouching for Keith Schembri and Malcolm Scerri.’”
The news website had also allowed third parties to leave comments on the article, some of claimed that the plaintiffs were involved in criminal activity and forgery.
The court noted that it would have been far better had the defendants identified those making the comments in order for them to be made to appear as co-defendants. This would have limited their responsibility and passed it on to the armchair critics who “choose to comment from the comfort of their own homes, behind the shield of a computer system,” the court said.
Magistrate Depasquale said he had “serious concerns” about the malicious misuse of comment boards, which he said were being used to undermine freedom of expression. “Whilst everyone has the liberty to express his thoughts, nobody has the right to judge a person and allege facts which turn out to be false without eventually facing punishment.”
The Malta Independent is currently examining the ruling and its legal position, not only as regards the ruling itself but also as regards subsequent statements issued by involved and third parties.