News | Sunday, 21 February 2010

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Bondì was Consuelo’s dinner guest

Now he hosts TV show on the blog attack sparked by magistrate’s comments at the dinner party

PBS presenter Lou Bondì was one of the guests at the private dinner hosted by Magistrate Consuelo Scerri Herrera, whose remarks on a police report filed against by Daphne Caruana Galizia by her own husband led to a sustained attack by the Malta Independent’s columnist on her blog.
Bondì will now host tomorrow’s edition of Bondiplus on the subject of blogs and the private behaviour of public figures, despite having been one of the guests who ostensibly communicated the magistrate’s comments to blogger Caruana Galizia.
The dinner party’s other guests included PN international secretary John Bonello, former PN president Victor Scerri, and Times editor Ray Bugeja.
Reportedly, comments by Scerri Herrera that MaltaToday would run a story about the police report were relayed to Caruana Galizia via SMS during the dinner party.
The story – in which Dr Peter Caruana Galizia reports his wife to the police over injuries sustained while plates were thrown at him – was published in l-orizzont, and not in MaltaToday.
Questions sent this week by MaltaToday to PBS on whether it would allow Bondiplus to discuss a subject while criminal charges against Caruana Galizia were pending, were also leaked to Caruana Galizia.
The questions were sent to PBS editorial chairman Joe Pirotta, PBS head of news Natalino Fenech, and PBS chairman Clare Thake Vassallo, and were then featured on Caruana Galizia’s blog, who instead attacked Illum acting editor Julia Farrugia.
The scheduled guest on Bondiplus will be media pundit Fr Joe Borg, who has so far steered clear of condemning the blog’s personal attacks on his Times column.
The magistrate’s remarks led to an acerbic onslaught by Caruana Galizia on the relationship between Scerri Herrera and her partner Robert Musumeci, who are both separated from their spouses, and illustrated with pictures of Scerri Herrera’s birthday party that had been posted on her Facebook profile.
Caruana Galizia’s posts made explicit reference to the magistrate’s alleged sexual encounters, as well as innuendoes relating to drug use during her parties, in which she makes reference to guests using “talcum powder”.
The magistrate has since filed reports with the police, who have issued charges against Caruana Galizia for vilification of a public figure, which also carries a prison sentence.
Caruana Galizia also hit out at Magistrate Antonio Micallef Trigona, who was appointed to preside the case, by alleging that the magistrate had similar extra-marital relations as Scerri Herrera.
Yesterday, Caruana Galizia criticised President George Abela for announcing that the Commission for the Administration of Justice would not be investigating any of her allegations about Scerri Herrera.

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