PM defends government’s track record guaranteeing freedom of expression
Prime Minister Joseph Muscat said that he will not allow anybody to tarnish the reputation of the government by saying there is no freedom of expression. He was asked about garnishee orders against the press, and the hypocrisy of banning this following Economy Minister Chris Cardona’s decision to institute one against journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia.
The Malta Independent asked the Prime Minister whether the proposed law to ban precautionary warrants of seizure against the press was hypocritical, when his own minister had instituted one against Mrs Caruana Galizia just days prior to the announcement.
Mrs Caruana Galizia alleged Dr Cardona and his aide Joe Gerada visited a brothel in Velbert, Germany while officially invited to the country for a ministerial conference. Dr Cardona categorically denied these claims, while he and Dr Gerada filed two libel proceedings each against Mrs Caruana Galizia.
The courts also approved a motion filed by the pair for the maximum damages for each libel case be frozen as a precautionary measure, meaning that she had €47,000 frozen pending the outcome of the cases.
In response to the question, Dr Muscat said:
“In the case of Minister Cardona and Mrs Caruana Galizia, I believe the situation is that the garnishee order is absorbed through the crowd funding, the funds have been gathered.
“The point was that we wanted to send a clear message regarding the freedom of the press. I will not allow anybody to tarnish the reputation of this government or country to say there is no full democracy or freedom of expression.
“We may not agree, and we have had arguments, but this new law on the press which has been ready for some time following much work had been approved by Cabinet. Not only did we approve it, but we added two points to it in order to send a strong message to the press and the public, but also to send a message to the international sphere.
“Apart from removing criminal libel, something that has been spoken about but nothing has actually been done, apart from the issue of garnishee orders being raised now, these were not mentioned in the consultations [surrounding changes to the Press Act], but even though this issue created such an uproar we felt that we should regulate this. We not only removed monetary seizures of warrant but also on assets.
“With the amendments proposed by the PN, somebody could sequester assets. We said assets should not be sequestered either.
“We cannot create a situation where there are two categories of people, for the public there are still warrants of seizure, which is an important commercial tool, but it can be more rationalised than it is today.
Following the UK or Scandinavian model possible Press Complaints Commission or Media Ombudsman
Dr Muscat delved deeper by shedding light on possible models the government will imitate with regard to press regulation in other European countries. Primarily, the possibility of a press complaints commission which would comprise of the press itself and presided over by retired members of the judiciary, or a Media Ombudsman. He stressed that such changes would only take place following extensive public consultation.
“The third point, and I emphasise that we need consultation, is the introduction of a press complaints commission. Looking at the UK model, it is comprised of editors of all media houses, presided by a retired judge. Before going to court, editors themselves will choose whether to rebuke or support the actions of a particular journalist.
“There are also Scandinavian models, where you don’t have a press complaints commission but a press ombudsman – who could be nominated by journalists themselves whereby we would provide tools to the Institute of Maltese Journalists to do so, or nominated by Parliament.”
Pressed by the media as to how he does not find Dr Cardona’s actions hypocritical in light of the proposed Private Members’ Bill, the prime minister said he does not interfere in the tools used by his ministers to defend themselves.
Euthanasia
On a completely separate matter following a Parliamentary committee on euthanasia, Dr Muscat declared himself against euthanasia, adding however that he is troubled about the issue especially in the light of Joe Magro and his wife who pleaded with the government to introduce the law. Mr Magro is an ALS sufferer, and declared in court that if he is not given this law, and the right to die with dignity, he will surely end his life.
“We have no electoral mandate to introduce euthanasia; something of this nature requires a mandate. It is a very personal issue. I personally do not agree with euthanasia but I am troubled because I met with the person campaigning for this [Mr Joe Magro].
“When you are faced with a person who tells you: Prime Minister, if I am not allowed euthanasia by law, when the time comes I will kill myself. Those words shocked me (ħasadni). As a politician, as a person, I am at a loss as to how to respond to such a human statement. Together with his wife, when they said that without a decent way of ending his life, he would commit suicide, this was very difficult to respond to.
“It is a very tough question, I am against but we need an honest conversation, free from politics.”