Labour MP Rosianne Cutajar has accused lawyer Andrew Borg Cardona and auditor Godfrey Leone Ganado of being elitists after they described as “fair comment” a Facebook post strongly insinuating she was a prostitute.

Borg Cardona is representing auditor Godfrey Leone Ganado, who Cutajar has sued for libel over a Facebook post in which he says: “Ħamalli, prostitutes and call girls have a right to be represented in Parliament”. The contentious Facebook post links to an article the late Daphne Caruana Galizia had written, in which she strongly alleged that Cutajar had advertised herself as a Sicilian escort.

However, Borg Cardona insisted in court yesterday that the comment wasn’t defamatory and that even if it was, it should be deemed to be fair comment.

“It was fair comment in the context of [Cutajar’s] behaviour, with particular reference to previous publications about her, as will be shown during the hearing,” he said.

“According to Bocca & Leone Ganado’s rule of law, calling someone a whore is a ‘fair comment’,” Cutajar said in a tweet, referring to Borg Cardona’s nickname. “These elitists think they can insult anyone at any time with no decency. Politics is about respect & positivity. Nothing will stop me from promoting these ideals.”

Parliamentary secretary Julia Farrugia Portelli stood up for her colleague, describing Leone Ganado’s defence as “despicable and appalling”.

“Mr Godfrey Leone Ganado, calling a MP a bitch is stretching your fair comment a tiny bit too far,” she said. “It’s the equivalent of stretching a stale chewing gum piece from here to Pluto and back.”

Cutajar has also sued Occupy Justice activist Rachel Williams after Leone Ganado wrote comments insinuating the MP was a “whore on heat” (qaħba f’xalata) on her Facebook wall. In his defence, Borg Cardona insisted that Leone Ganado was making use of a Maltese metaphor and not referring to Cutajar as a prostitute. Moreover, Williams herself did not state whether she endorsed Leone Ganado’s comment or not.

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Tim Diacono

Tim is interested in the rapid evolution of human society and is passionate about justice, human rights and cutting-edge political debates. You can follow him on Instagram or Twitter/X at @timdiacono or reach out to him at [email protected]