Straight from the mouth of fascism: the Economy Minister’s statement yesterday evening

The statement was issued in Maltese (see screenshots below) and is translated faithfully beneath.

DEPARTMENT OF INFORMATION, MALTA
PRESS RELEASE
8TH FEBRUARY 2017

DAPHNE CARUANA GALIZIA’S LIES ARE NOT JOURNALISM

The Minister for the Economy, Investment and Small Businesses believes in freedom of expression and assures journalists that they are free to carry out their journalistic work. Moreover, journalists should be encouraged to continue in their work of serious scrutiny.

Lies which are designed to spread malice, hate and division are not journalism. Nobody should use the profession of serious journalism to say what he pleases and insult with malice and lies anybody who is in public life and even those who are not.

Daphne Caruana Galizia is a blogger who publishes unfounded lies, meant only to break people with invented stories about, among other things, illness, death, children and dead people. These lies have an effect not only on those who are in public life, but also on their families, without any consideration whatsoever. These lies and insults have caused suffering to people of different political beliefs.

This is why, apart from libel suits, warrants of seizure were also filed. Those who are defending this blogger are not helping serious journalism. Those who classify as journalism this blogger’s barefaced, slanderous and baseless lies are not serving the interests of journalism and freedom of expression.

As was explained earlier and even as the Institute of Maltese Journalists explained in a statement, even though Minister Cardona is going to sue the Nationalist Party media for libel, he is not going to file any warrants against them.