Court awards Tonio Borg €5,000 in damages

Court finds 2007 l-orizzont advert libellous, orders Labour and the GWU-owned newspaper to pay €5,000.

30 September 2013, 12:00am
by Chris Mangion

Magistrate Francesco Depasquale has ordered the Labour Party and GWU-owned newspaper l-orizzont to pay €5,000 in damages to EU Commissioner Tonio Borg after ruling that a 2007 advert was libellous.

The libel case against the newspaper and the PL was filed in 2007.

The advert, 'Kumpens ta' kwazi Lm70,000', was issued when Borg was the Minister responsible for lands and referred to government compensation to then parliamentary secretary Ninu Zammit after part of his land was expropriated.

The article alleged Zammit had enjoyed preferential treatment and received compensation under a procedure that did not apply to him.

Chris Mangion is MaltaToday’s photojournalist, joining the newspaper in 2013.

In 1995...