Media.Link’s head of news oblivious to who online news editor is

Media.link's head of news Nathaniel Attard was oblivious to who was responsible of the PN's online news portal as no editor was registered with the Department of Information.

Attard took the witness stand in defamation case filed by Manuel Mallia and David Farrugia Sacco against PN Secretary General Paul Borg Olivier after the latter linked their names with the Enemalta oil scandal.

Attard said he had no connection with the web portal whilst Paul Borg Olivier is one of the Directors of Medialink Communications.

The court heard how all stories uploaded on the site are vetted by various people, including the witness, however the story related to the case was not vetted by Attard as at the time he was attending another press conference.

Taking the witness stand, Home Affairs Minister Manuel Mallia said he was objecting to a story carried out by the PN's online medium as the title - 'Tlett esponenti Laburisti involti fix-xiri taż-żejt' - alleged they were involved in the oil scandal.

There were a total of three articles about this news item on the PN's web portal.

Malli argued that this was the worst kind of journalism as it was aimed at ruining his reputation during the electoral campaign.

"I was never spoken to, sent for or mentioned by the police in connection with the oil scandal," Minister Mallia told the court.

He also categorically denied having any direct or indirectly connection with the case. At the time of publishing he had asked that if this was a simple mistake it could be rectified without the need to file for libel. However, he added, not only the mistake wasn't rectified but further articles were uploaded claiming the same allegations.

Next to take the witness stand was lawyer David Farrugia Sacco who also held that he felt aggrieved by the articles in question as he was never spoken to by the police in relation to the oil scandal.

"The sole purpose of the article was to undermine his image during the electoral campaign," Farrugia Sacco said.

Another person to take the witness stand was Bondi+ presenter Lou Bondi, who said that during the election campaign was working as a journalist with PBS. He said that he had asked questions to Mallia, details of which then appeared in the maltarightnow.com article.

Bondi told the court that he did not agree with the title of the article as this could lead people to associate Mallia with the oil scandal and this was not the intention of Bondi's questions.

The last witness during today's hearing was Inspector Timothy Zammit from the Police Cyber Crime Unit.

The inspector stated that police inspector Sandro Camilleri had asked him to find what was the domain of the web portal Maltarightnow which is registered with an American company under the name of Hansen Aquilina.

Lawyer Arthur Azzopardi is appearing on behalf of Minister Mallia while Dr Joe Zammit Maempel is appearing for the defence.

Magistarte Edwina Grima postponed the case for June 17.