Union daily l-Orizzont fined €5,000

The editor of the General Workers Union daily l-Orizzont, Josef Caruana, was ordered to pay €5,000 in damages to PBS chief executive officer Anton Attard and former PBS head of news Natalino Fenech, after the court ruled that an article published in his paper in October 2012 was defamatory.

The article in question, 'Is-Saltna tal-Gideb' (the reign of lies) was published on 2 October 2012 under nom de plume 'Cikku l-Poplu' wherein reference was made to a "gang of five", namely Attard and Fenech, as well as TV presenters Pierre Portelli, Lou Bondì and Joe Azzopardi, alleging that they had accumulated financial wealth in tax havens.

On his part, Caruana said the article was attacking the "GonziPN system" underpinning the former administration, and not Fenech and Attard directly, and that the "gang of five" was employed to distinguish between the five men that led PBS and the alleged "GonziPN clique".

Magistrate Francesco Depasquale ruled that both Fenech and Attard were public people. The court rejected the defence arguments of fair comment, stating no reader could objectively analyse the allegations implied in the article.