Gag me if you can

I have no more time for people like GRTU chief Vince Farrugia.

Instead of standing up to help us understand why he changed his political views over the last twenty years, he sues me for libel once again over what was stated in a court of law.

It is okay for others to make statements in court and write essays and prose, but for Saviour Balzan to illustrate what Dr Anthony Samuel said, is a problem.

I have decided to publish the details of the messages that were sent in the days after the incident Farrugia had with his former friend Sandro Chetcuti.

I need not be in conspiratorial mood to understand what was happening then, and one need not go through great mental gymnastics to see that Dr Anthony Samuel made contradictory statements in court.

Now, that's a nice way of saying that Dr Samuel lied.

But more importantly, the most important thing is that Dr Samuel was in contact with Farrugia's son and daughter.

Let us have a look at these SMSes:

It is important to remember the dates of the incident. The first date to remember is 11 March, 2010. The second date is when Dr Anthony Samuel carried out a bone scan, and this was 23 March, 2010. And the date of the first sitting was 24 March, 2010

Here are the contacts between Medical specialist Anthony Samuel (AS) and Marie Klaire (MKF) and Jan Karl  Farrugia (JKF).

15/03/10 11:59 - SMS - MKF to AS

15/03/10 11:59 - SMS - MKF to AS

16/03/10 13:25 - CALL - AS to JKF

18/03/10 09:15 - CALL - AS to JKF

22/03/10 10:18 - SMS - AS to JKF

22/03/10 11:01 - SMS - JKF to AS

22/03/10 11:02 - SMS JKF to AS

23/03/10 20:50 - SMS MKF to AS

23/03/10 22:04 -SMS - AS to MKF

23/03/10 22:05 - SMS - MKF to AS

SMS 1

23, March 2010

Message sent by St Julian's Nationalist Mayor Peter Bonello to Vince Farrugia, and later forwarded by Vince Farrugia to his son Jan Karl Farrugia.

"Vinc hu hsieb li jkollok professor bil bajt gahyx dan il quddiem irid jixhed mhux jibza min dellu peter kurrag ahna warajk" (Vinc, make sure you engage a specialist with balls as he will eventually need to give evidence without chickening out peter don't give up we're behind you)

SMS 2

23 March, 2010

SMS from Vince Farrugia to Jan Karl Farrugia after receiving SMS from Peter Bonello

"I think din tac certifikati hallejniha wisq f-dejhom. You should get advise from Konrad and AnthonySamuel tonight. Jekk jixdu soft johorgu I';; Polizija u lilna ta hmir. Xi hadd iris jghid li any blow could have killed me." (I think we have mistakenly left this matter of certificates in their hands. You should get advice from Konrad and Anthony Samuel tonight. If their evidence is too soft, they will make idiots out of police and us. Somebody must say that any blow could have killed me.)

SMS 3

15 March, 2010

Marie Klaire Farrugia to Vince Farrugia

"Hi pa, I just asked Anthony Samuel (consultant radiologist) to do a special scan on your ribs to check if there's a fracture (no difference in terms of treatment, but helps court case) He will contact you through jan karl."

SMS 4

15 March, 2010

Vince Farrugia to Marie Klaire

"Tnx. It's best."

The problem with Vince Farrugia is that he thinks that he can control everything.

Prior to the court sittings, Farrugia had sent various SMSes to various journalists. I will publish them at a later stage. They have one thing in common - the journalists are all Nationalist-leaning.

I cannot understand why.

It is probably because Sandro Chetcuti was portrayed (even by myself) as a Labourite.  But really and truly, Chetcuti, like many others in his line of business, are chummy with both sides of the political divide.

So much so that he even sponsored Vince Farrugia's campaign to win a seat in Brussels on a Nationalist ticket. More on this in another issue.

Obviously, all those who hit out at Sandro Chetcuti and attempted to portray him as a Labour stooge forget this, as they conveniently forgot the donation he passed over to Paul Borg Olivier after being asked to donate to the PN.

If it were for him, the SMSing would not have been revealed. 

Thankfully, I have long lost faith in Vince Farrugia. Thankfully, I am not alone.

The electorate failed to elect him when he surprisingly stood as a Nationalist candidate for Brussels. At least most Nationalists do not like him.

He may have a hold over GRTU, but this is only because he has the backing of three to four sycophants who are well known for their political leanings.

Vince is not very tolerant to criticism.

In one SMS in my possession, he had this to say about a GRTU Vice President: "I'll ikkonfermajt kemm hu super liba JOE Tabone, Alla irid johloq ipokkrizijja bhal tieghu. Onestament dawn in-nies laqnas jafu jahraw ma nakfx kif kibritiklhom rashom daqswhekk."

Well the literal translation of that would read:  "I have just confirmed what a 'super sperm' JOE Tabone is. God still has to create a bigger hypocrite than him. Honestly these folk cannot even shit, I have no idea how big headed they have become."

Now, rushing to Vince Farrugia's defence, we no longer have the Labour brigades. In 1987 and 1996, he was a hate figure for the Nationalist media and press. 

Today it is a different story altogether. Today, not only does he find the support he needs, but the same people who derided Mintoff's lackey in the 80s praise him and embrace him.

They include the blogs which work in tandem with Castille. Not only that, but they also attacked the defence lawyer Manwel Mallia, who was selected to do a job and defend Sandro Chetcuti. All these attacks are coordinated by the same thinking process that finds its home and strategy at Castille.

But libel suits against MaltaToday are not simply part of a singular action. The origin of libels and the strategy behind the libels against MaltaToday are all aimed at gagging me and this media organisation. And they have the backing of Castille.

They will not succeed, no matter what!

In the end, there is a clear triumvirate behind this: The Times - run and backed by Adrian Hillman and Mario de Marco - the bile blogger and Castille.

It is generally understood that without MaltaToday, the administration of the day would have a much easier time of it.

The problem is that it is not about this administration, but about every administration.

MaltaToday will continue to play its part irrespective of the party in government.

One need only go back to MaltaToday before 2004 to see how this can happen.

Which is why MediaToday is injecting more attention in combating the libel war unleashed against us, with a clear brief given to its legal team not to leave any stone unturned in defending the stories we have carried and of taking the case not only beyond the court of appeal but further on to the European court. Something we have never done.

This will cost money... but at the very end of the day, the thinking behind it is simple. 

We aim to prove that we are victims of an attempt to gag us.

The same people who said they have democracy at heart, want us out.

To them, retaining power at all costs is supreme.