The chairman and secretary of the Malta Institute of Journalists this morning filed a reply to a libel suit which had been filed by the president and secretary of the Federation of Bird Hunters, Trappers and Conservationists in May last year.

Joseph Buttigieg and Lino Farrugia, president and secretary of the FKNK, respectively, had filed a libel suit against Malcolm Naudi and Joseph Vella, chairman and secretary of Institute of Maltese Journalists, respectively, after an article in The Times in March 2007.

In their reply, Mr Naudi and Mr Vella said they were not the publishers of the article so they were not responsible for what appeared in the newspaper. They said that if action had to be taken, this had to be taken against who wrote and published the article.

The article, they said, only contained fair comment on issues public interest and criticism acceptable in a democratic society in line with the Press Act, the Constitution and the European Convention of Human Rights.

The action by Mr Buttigieg and Mr Farrugia was only aimed to frighten journalists from expressing themselves against violence especially that towards journalists carrying out their duties and ending up beaten during a “peaceful” protest organised by the federation.

All they had been doing, Mr Naudi and Mr Vella and said, were replying to a defamatory attack made by the federation in a public statement following a protest during which a number of journalists and photographers were attacked.