Blogger and civil society activist Manuel Delia is claiming that an appeal decision over a post he had written about Malta Today journalist Raphael Vassallo breached his right to freedom of expression and triggered a “chilling effect” on those writing about matters of public interest. Delia filed constitutional proceedings on Tuesday following the judgment delivered in June, overturning the decision by the Magistrates’ Court whereby Vassallo had lost his libel suit against the blogger. Vassallo had sued the blogger over a post titled “Long Read:416 bis” published on Truth Be Told in October 2019, some eight months after an article by the Malta Today journalist titled, “Freedom of expression also means the freedom to talk out of your ass”. Writing in the wake of the murder of Daphne Caruana Galizia, Delia’s comments appeared to suggest that Vassallo had a hand in the “mafia conspiracy” that killed the journalist. The first court had turned down Vassallo’s claims, stating that the right to express an opinion on matters of public interest, such as the Caruana Galizia assassination, was of vital importance to the rule of law. Just as Vassallo had a right to express his views on...