Property speculator Mark Gaffarena has filed a libel suit against columnist Daphne Caruana Galizia following an article on her blog which, he claimed, insinuated  he was trafficking drugs in partnership with Antoine Azzopardi, who runs the illegal restaurant at Cavett's Place.

Taking the witness stand this morning, Mr Gaffarena confirmed that the nine tumoli of land which housed Cavett's Place belonged to him, as did the actual structure of the entertainment venue which he had constructed himself. He said he had rented it out to Mr Azzopardi after the latter asked him for a stretch of land after he was "kicked out" of his Mtarfa land.

Mr Gaffarena said he did not request any payment from Mr Azzopardi for renting out the place but insisted he was not involved in running the place in any way.

In an article uploaded in June, Ms Caruana Galizia wrote that Mr Azzopardi used his family nickname of Cavett because Googling his full name called up the fact that in 2008, he had been a school minibus driver who was charged with dealing in cocaine and cannabis.

He had denied the charges but was remanded in custody and had his assets frozen.

She termed Mr Azzopardi a "sleaze" and a "drug-dealer", proceeding to write that he was probably also dealing drugs out of Cavett's Place in Ħandaq, "in partnership with Marco Gaffarena or behind his back in his property".

Mr Gaffarena denied carrying out such affairs, saying that he never had any reason to do so and complained that Ms Caruana Galizia had been hectoring and insulting him for the past six months.

"She tried to break me by saying that I pushed drugs. This is not true. She had better look at her son - he had been caught with drugs aged 16."

Lawyer Joseph Zammit Maempel, appearing for Ms Caruana Galizia, translated parts of the article into Maltese since Mr Gaffarena could not read in English, and asked in which part was he insinuated.

Lawyer Keith Bonnici, representing Mr Gaffarena, argued that the insinuation was very clear.

Commotion briefly erupted in the courtroom after Dr Zammit Maempel asked whether the venue was covered by a Mepa permit, with Dr Bonnici and Mr Gaffarena protesting that this was not relevant for the case.

Magistrate Francesco Depasquale presided over the case.

The case continues on January 28.