MaltaToday’s managing editor Saviour Balzan will be filing a writ asking the Magistrates’ Court to hear the libel cases lodged by Malta’s fish farm industry against this newspaper with urgency.
MaltaToday will be summoning foreign experts from Greenpeace and Advanced Tuna Ranching Technologies, among others, to take the witness stand.
“MaltaToday is ready to confirm everything that has been reported in its articles on the tuna industry through foreign experts that this newspaper will bring in to take the witness stand,” Saviour Balzan said.
“This newspaper sees these libel suits as a clear attempt to prevent MaltaToday from desisting from its duty to publish information and news stories on the Maltese tuna industry and the involvement of the Maltese government on the statistics presented to ICCAT on tuna exports.”
Seven tuna ranch and fish farm companies have filed a writ for libel damages against MaltaToday. Charles Azzopardi on behalf of Azzopardi Fisheries Ltd and AJD Tuna Ltd claimed he was libelled by an article titled ‘Fishy Business’ written by Saviour Balzan and published on 28 May. He further claimed that he had been libelled by an article titled ‘Cheeky Azzopardi Fishes For Compensation’ penned by journalist Raphael Vassallo and published on 28 June.
Five other fish-farm operators – Mare Blu Tuna Farm Ltd, Ta’ Mattew Fish Farms Ltd, Fish and Fish Ltd, Malta Fishfarming Ltd and AJD Tuna Ltd – filed the suit in the Magistrates’ Court against editor Saviour Balzan and journalist Raphael Vassallo. They argued that the article titled ‘Tuna Export Figures Questioned By Experts’ was libellous and defamatory. Lawyer John Refalo signed the writ.
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