Columnist fined for libel

Columnist Daphne Caruana Galizia has been ordered to pay notary Mark Anthony Sammut Lm500 in damages after a court ruled that an article she wrote was "effectively defamatory" as it undermined his reputation.

Magistrate Silvio Meli ruled that the article entitled "Hey, baby, there is a pistol in my handbag" was libellous.

The article in question was written by Ms Caruana Galizia and published on The Malta Independent on April 28, 2005.

In her article, the columnist commented about an incident when Dr Sammut was allegedly apprehended at the airport with a pistol in his hand luggage.

Dr Sammut had originally filed the libel suit against Ms Caruana Galizia and against the newspaper editor Stephen Calleja.

But the magistrate ruled that no evidence had been produced to prove that Mr Calleja occupied the post of editor.