A magistrate threw out a libel suit filed against l-orizzont by Green MT over an article terming a €2,000 cash grant offered to local councils as "bait".

The article appeared in November 2012 and referred to a waste collection scheme rolled out by Green MT where a sum of €2,000 in cash grants was offered to local councils to encourage their participation.

Green MT took issue with the term "bait", arguing that the cash grant would be paid against an invoice issued by the local council and that "no one would personally take the cash".

Editor Josef Caruana argued that the reported piece was of public interest since it was related to waste collection and the companies authorised to do so by the local councils.

Magistrate Francesco Depasquale noted that the the offering of money to encourage parties to join the scheme was not contested and there was therefore nothing wrong with calling the scheme 'bait' because the term indicated an action intended to encourage someone to do something.

The court did not find anything defamatory or libellous in the use of such a word and therefore dismissed the case.