A magistrate yesterday ordered that columnist Daphne Caruana Galizia be escorted to court by police for the next sitting of a criminal libel case after she failed to appear yesterday.

Edgar Bonnici Cachia has accused Ms Caruana Galizia of libelling him in a blog post entitled The Labour Party: a Hitman for a Candidate.

Last May, Ms Caruana Galizia was fined €100 for contempt of court after failing to show up in the first sitting.

The fine was later rescinded by Magistrate Claire Stafrace Zammit after it turned out that she had been abroad.

In a statement, Ms Caruana Galizia said she had not been formally notified by the police about the sitting and would be filing an application to contest the order.

She said she did turn up in court but arrived 20 minutes late and this could be confirmed by her lawyer Joe Zammit Maempel.

The case has been put off to November 19.

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