Former Prime Minister Joseph Muscat said today that he will be suing lawyer Christian Grima over a Facebook comment in which he accused the former Prime Minister of blowing up journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia.

Muscat said he only filed around five lawsuits in 15 years in politics because he believes in freedom of expression, even when words are offensive, unjust or even totally incorrect.

“Sometimes though, there is a line that when it is crossed, one cannot do nothing,” Muscat said. 

Muscat said Grima, “to use his words”, accused the former Prime Minister of “blowing up Daphne Caruana Galizia”.

“As it is clear from all the facts, this is totally false,” he said, adding that a lie like this could not be ignored.

Grima has made a name for himself on Facebook where he comments frequently and stingingly about Maltese politics.

Caruana Galizia was killed in a car bomb in October 2017, when Muscat was Prime Minister. He eventually had to resign after the murder investigation led to several people very close to his office, including his former Chief of Staff Keith Schembri.

Schembri has not been charged with any involvement in the murder but now faces charges of bribery, corruption and money laundering over several stories first exposed by Caruana Galizia.