Bedingfield defends police in parliament – years after his OPM blog targeted Daphne

Former ONE reporter, now Robert Abela’s Home Affairs Minister Glenn Bedingfield defended Malta’s police force in parliament on Friday, years after the public inquiry into Daphne Caruana Galizia’s assassination condemned the blog he operated while working inside disgraced former Prime Minister Muscat’s Office of the Prime Minister alongside Keith Schembri.

Parliament was recalled urgently following the jury’s decision to acquit Yorgen Fenech of charges connected to the journalist’s 2017 assassination.

Bedingfield told MPs that responsibility for the verdict rested with the jurors and rejected attempts to portray their decision as evidence that the police investigation or prosecution had failed.

“Those responsible for the decision are the jurors,” he said, arguing that it was wrong to link the verdict to how the investigation or prosecution had been conducted.

He said evidence heard during the 55-day trial was being incorporated into two inquiries and that the police would be formally notified of the testimony. This, he suggested, would provide investigators with an opportunity to pursue matters emerging from the proceedings.

Bedingfield also declared his “absolute confidence” in every member of the police force and accused opposition MPs of attempting to damage the institution.

“I commit myself to ensuring that the Police Force continues to receive all the resources and tools it needs to do what it must do,” he said. “We were calm, prudent and firm, and that is how we will remain.”

Yet Bedingfield’s prominent defence of Malta’s institutions comes with considerable historical baggage.

Before becoming a minister, Bedingfield worked in Joseph Muscat’s Office of the Prime Minister while also operating a blog largely dedicated to attacking and undermining Caruana Galizia.

The public inquiry into her assassination described the sustained campaign against the journalist as part of a process of dehumanisation. It identified Bedingfield’s blog as the campaign’s worst social media expression.

Evidence submitted to the inquiry said Bedingfield encouraged members of the public to photograph Caruana Galizia as she went about her private life. Hundreds of such photographs were subsequently published on his blog.

The inquiry found that elements within the State, particularly the Office of the Prime Minister, actively worked against the journalist and contributed to an organised campaign that isolated and vilified her.

Bedingfield removed the blog several months after Caruana Galizia was killed. During his testimony before the inquiry, he defended it by claiming that it gave a voice to people who had been ridiculed by the journalist.

Following the publication of the inquiry report in 2021, he denied having facilitated her murder.

During Friday’s debate, Opposition Leader Alex Borg also recalled Bedingfield’s past comments about Caruana Galizia’s family, including allegations concerning their handling of the murdered journalist’s laptop. Borg argued that this history undermined the government’s attempt to guarantee the independence of the continuing investigation.

Bedingfield insisted that police must be allowed to investigate without political interference and urged MPs to exercise caution rather than pursue partisan advantage.