[Photo source: Newsbook.com.mt]
Developer Michael Stivala has lost the libel case he had instituted three years ago against Momentum Chairperson, Arnold Cassola.
Stivala had felt that his honourabilty had been attacked when Cassola had written that that the employment of Joseph Muscat as Stivala’s consultant was payback time for all the illegalities that Stivala’s companies had been allowed when Muscat was Prime Minister.
The court, presided by Magistrate Rachel Montebello, ruled against Stivala’s line of reasoning.
Stivala had also tried to argue in court that Cassola’s 4 November 2022 facebook posts had caused the Stivala companies shares and bonds to depreciate by millions of euros.
Cassola successfully argued that what made the Stivala company shares and bonds depreciate were not his 4 and 5 November 2022 facebook posts but the revelation on the previous 30 October 2022 that Stivala had employed as his consultant the 2019 OCCRP corrupt politician of the year.
Lawyers Eve Borg Costanzi and Matthew Cutajar appeared for Cassola while Vincent Galea, who is also Joseph Muscat’s lawyer in other cases, appeared for Michael Stivala.
Arnold Cassola
Chairperson, Momentum
