Actress Who Sued It-Torċa Editor For Libel Over ‘Nazi’ Article Condemns His Suspension
An actress and activist who sued It-Torċa and L-Orizzont editor Victor Vella for libel over a story linking her to Nazism has decried his suspension as an act of censorship.
“Just as targeting an activist for no reason other than not liking her message is wrong, if this is true, then THIS is also very wrong, and worrying,” Pia Zammit wrote.
“And questions like ‘but what do you expect from a partisan newspaper?’ are also wrong. Censorship is censorship is censorship. And wrong. Solidarity with Victor Vella. This shouldn’t be happening.”
Zammit had sued Vella for libel over a 2019 story that suggested she was a Nazi sympathiser based on a photo she had taken backstage during a 2009 performance of the wartime comedy ‘Allo ‘Allo.
She had accused the General Workers’ Union’s media of trying to intimidate and censor her in retaliation for her activism with Occupy Justice, a pressure group set up to demand justice for the assassination of journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia.
Zammit lost the initial case but won it on appeal last month, with a court awarding her €1200 in moral damages.
Vella was suspended pending disciplinary proceedings against him, with both Newsbook and MaltaToday reporting that he was punished for articles which painted the government in a bad light.
Neither Vella nor Union Print, the GWU company which owns It-Torċa and L-Orizzont, has commented yet but a spokesperson for the union told MaltaToday that it is defending Vella and that it’s not true he was suspended due to his editorial line.
Writers’ lobby group PEN Malta and the Institute of Maltese Journalists have both criticised the suspension.
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