Election heckler fined €5,000 for defamatory comments against minister

An election heckler who temporarily stole the show in 2008 with his incursions against government ministers has been ordered to pay Nationalist minister George Pullicino €5,000 for implying the minister was corrupt.

Jo Said, a former Nationalist voter who led a one-man campaign against the government's re-election in 2008, was served with a record number of libel suits back in January 2008 for his statements on Smash TV's Realtà, conducted by Brian Hansford.

The court of Magistrate Joseph Apap Bologna ruled that comments by Said implied Pullicino was corrupt, allegedly drawn from a comparison he made with former Labour minister Lorry Sant, were defamatory.

The court considered the fact that Said had apologised to the minister, but according to the facts presented in the case, Said's sarcastic reference to the 'Vote George get Lorry' poster - penned by Times columnist Claire Bonello (then a MaltaToday columnist) in an enduring image of a pro-environment rally - were tantamount to slander.

Said was featured as a 'floating voter' in the Smash talk show, which had also featured Nationalist MP David Agius and Labour MP Helena Dalli, and contractor Sandro Chetcuti, booked in as a 'floating voter' on the programme which was meant to deal with the subject of floating voters.

The show soon turned into a tour de force by participant Jo Said, who levelled accusations at the government and several ministers.

Shortly after the recording of the programme, parliamentary secretary Tonio Fenech called in to complain about an allegation aired by Said, in which he claimed he was threatened by two men posing as police officers, who warned him to "shut up" and not to participate in a TV show.

Fenech's complaint concerned an allegation by Said who claimed he was involved in an altercation with Tonio Fenech while driving - the part was later edited out of the programme and never made it to the final airing.
Hansford confirmed the allegation was edited out of the programme. "Tonio Fenech said the allegation was libellous, and I cut it out because I thought it was libellous as well."

Pullicino was said to have filed suits against Sandro Chetcuti over allegations on the minister and the Malta Environment and Planning Authority. Even former secretary-general Joe Saliba had said he would file libel suits against Jo Said.