In fact, in his original post, Vella didn’t refer to hate speech but said that PBS should have deleted his and other comments, warning that the national broadcaster “censors those who fight for justice but gives space to this trash.”

However, the police looked into these comments and charged Portelli with hate speech. In court, Portelli admitted to posting the comment but denied that he did with the intention of stirring up hatred.

Since the police didn’t present the court with evidence of the context in which he published the comment, Magistrate Jean Paul Grech cleared him of the charges.

Stagno Navarra then lashed out at Vella and accused him of reporting Portelli to the police.

“Jeremy passed through three years of an absurd judicial protest because a certain Norman Vella, who went from presenting shows on TV to stamping passports where he belonged, reported him to the police,” Stagno Navarra claimed.

“Jeremy was charged in court, lost time from his work, and risked a fine, imprisonment and a stain on his police conduct. And then Norman Vella, who believes in justice so much, didn’t even turn up in court to substantiate his accusations. So much for smearing Labour voters and passing them through martyrdom.”

ONE then published an article alleging that Vella had reported Portelli to the police. Portelli’s lawyer Rachel Tua also claimed that Vella had reported her client.

Vella then asked the police to clarify that he never lodged a report regarding this case, that he never requested to be a witness in this case, and that he was never summoned as a witness.

Superintendent Joseph Busuttil, who was the investigating officer in the case, agreed with Vella’s version of events.

“Good morning Mr Vella, I was the investigating officer in this case and I can confirm that you have never lodged a report with the Police regarding this case,” he told him.

“I can confirm that you have never requested to testify in this case and that you were never summoned as a witness by the prosecution in this case,” he said in a separate email.