Mathew Vella, the previous editor of MaltaToday before Kurt Sansone, is being sued in a Spanish court along with MaltaToday over his reporting of the Steward public hospital deals in Malta. Steward Healthcare is registered in Spain and decided to institute court proceedings in Spain, but I highly doubt whether the case will hold in court since Spanish courts have been consistent in siding with journalists over defamation cases. This case will also have problems with the issues of the jurisdiction of the Spanish court over the material published abroad. A Spanish court would have jurisdiction over a Spanish national who committed a crime abroad against another Spanish individual in Spain, but having jurisdiction over material published abroad by foreign papers is stretching that jurisdictional ability a bit too far.
Of course, I’m in full solidarity Matthew Vella in this case, but in response to MaltaToday’s article, it is important to point out that the proposed government reforms of the local press laws do not prevent foreign SLAPP cases on local journalists, but only cap the damages at the local limits – which is absurd. And it is even more absurd that MaltaToday would be using its defamation case to promote the said law. If the government had its way over the press reforms, MaltaToday would still be liable to pay Steward a maximum payment of up to ย10,000 should Steward Healthcare win the case.
Updated with MaltaToday Editor’s comments.ย
Website Editor
Historian and Publisher
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