Former inewsmalta.com editor Aleander Balzan has been ordered to pay former Nationalist Party president Victor Scerri €3,000 after allowing a libellous comment to be published beneath an article.

Beneath a story uploaded on the website in November 2013 headlined: 'For sale...the controversial farmhouse in Bahrija', a person who only identified himself as 'Gino' uploaded a comment attacking Dr Scerri.

The comment, in broken Maltese, read as follows: "Do you know shame, Victor Scerri? So you take it against people who park badly at the tribunal and then you obtain money from there as well...you PN people should be ashamed of yourselves, being surrounded by such filth. I expect Simon Busuttil, if he's a man, to condemn this filth".

While Dr Scerri, who at the time worked as a prosecutor at the North Tribunal, did not feel defamed by the content of article, he took issue against the comment, deeming it to be libellous and defamatory.

Magistrate Francesco Depasquale held that it was very clear that the commentator alleged that Dr Scerri was corrupt in his work. The court also noted that, in his testimony, Mr Balzan admitted that such words were not pleasant.

However, he justified the comment which was allowed to be uploaded by saying that the comment was not libellous but merely expressed great anger against Dr Scerri's actions. He also argued that the comment had to do with the environment and the fact that Dr Scerri was a public person.

The court, however, held that the comment had nothing to do with the environment but with the professional work of the plaintiff. The 'filthy' allegation was intrinsically bound to his position as a lawyer and nothing else. Moreover, Dr Scerri was no longer involved in the political field and the comment had nothing to do with any political actions of his.

The court ruled the comment to be defamatory since it attacked Dr Scerri's personal integrity. It also took into consideration the news portal's own regulations, which clearly stated that personal insults should be avoided.

The court therefore upheld Dr Scerri's complaint, ordering Mr Balzan to pay him €3,000 in damages.