Caruana Galizia guilty of criminal libel against Labour deputy leader

The Court of Criminal Appeal has confirmed a sentence by the first court against Malta Independent columnist Daphne Caruana Galizia, which found her guilty of criminal libel against Labour deputy leader Anglu Farrugia.

Chief Justice Silvio Camilleri however ordered the initial €1,165 fine be decreased to €900.

In 2010, Caruana Galizia said she would take the case before the Constitutional Court and the European Court if necessary.

The case was in fact heard seven years after Caruana Galizia penned an article in The Malta Independent, ‘The anything goes party’, back in 2003 before the Labour leadership elections in which Farrugia was contesting.

In the article, Caruana Galizia wrote of her experience at being interrogated by Farrugia, a police inspector, back in 1984 when she was 19. But Magistrate Silvio Meli had said the columnist was unable to prove beyond doubts the facts of the matter.

In her statement after the first ruling, Caruana Galizia described Maltese criminal defamation law as “an archaism in the 21st century in an EU member state.”