Pullicino Orlando loses Mistra libel case against Alfred Sant

Former MP Jeffrey Pullicino Orlando lost his libel suit against former prime minister Alfred Sant, relating to allegations made during a press conference six years ago on the Mistra scandal.

On 1 March 2008, during the run-up to the general elections, then leader of the Opposition Alfred Sant addressed a press conference at Mistra, claiming Pullicino Orlando was involved in corruption.

The allegations surrounded an application for an open-air disco at Mistra, on land belonging to Pullicino Orlando. The defendant, Alfred Sant, had described the application as “scandalous, immersed in corruption, obscene and protected the interest of a small clique”.

The former MP denied the allegations and filed for libel. The applicant argued that his plot of land had been rented out to third parties who subsequently applied for an underground lavatory and an open-air dance floor less than two metres high. “The application has been pending for a while and no final decision has been made. I do not even know the applicants. I have never met them”, Pullicino Orlando argued.

The limits of acceptable criticism are wider with regards to a politician and, knowingly and inevitably, a politician lays himself open to close scrutiny of his every word and deed and must consequently display a greater degree of tolerance Magistrate Francesco Depasquale

Two days later Dr Sant replied that his were ‘fair comments’ regarding issues which were of national interest, and based on facts. “It is my right as leader of the Opposition and representative for the people to criticise and make public irregularities in both Pullicino Orlando's and the Government's actions," the defendant said.

In his defence, Sant explained how he could not believe his ears when he came to know about the Mistra scandal. “I regarded Pullicino Orlando as a person of integrity, particularly in politics and environmental issues. However it resulted that he had a business relationship with the applicants and for a number of months had applied pressure on MEPA and Malta Tourism Authority officials to issue the requested permit.

"After the application was repeatedly refused, in 2007 the MTA advised MEPA to issue the relevant permit. Yet in December that same year, the applicants requested to double the area proposed for a disco in order to be able to entertain over 8,000 patrons," Sant explained.

Magistrate Francesco Depasquale ruled that "freedom of expression constitutes one of the essential foundations of a democratic society and freedom of political debate is at the very core of a democratic society. The limits of acceptable criticism are wider with regards to a politician and, knowingly and inevitably, a politician lays himself open to close scrutiny of his every word and deed and must consequently display a greater degree of tolerance."

The court decreed that the comments made by then leader of the Opposition Alfred Sant were objectively fair and honestly founded on the facts to which they related. Magistrate Depasquale threw out Pullicino Orlando’s claim of defamation, saying Sant’s comment were a fair comment based on a value judgement about an issue of public interest.