Court orders MaltaToday to pay Cachia Caruana €3,000 in libel damages

In a court sentence handed down today, Magistrate Francesco Depasquale ordered MaltaToday to pay €3,000 in libel damages to the former permanent representative to the EU, Richard Cachia Caruana, over a 2009 opinion penned by MediaToday managing editor, Saviour Balzan.

Entitled ‘Why people will protest and simply not vote’, Cachia Caruana took offense at Balzan’s description: “RCC acts as he has always acted, secretively calling on his army of sycophants to dish out bile and hate from their blogs and columns. They incite hatred and attempt to decimate any critics.”

After hearing various witnesses, the magistrate ruled the text as defamatory and libellous.