The mayor of Floriana, Nigel Holland, was cleared of defaming his predecessor through leaflets he circulated after an appeal court ruled he had been charged under the wrong law.

Mr Holland had been previously conditionally discharged for a year by the Magistrates' Court for defaming Publius Agius four years ago.

Mr Justice Joseph Galea Debono, sitting in the Court of Criminal Appeal, found that, given that the case involved distribution of leaflets, Mr Holland should have been charged under the Press Act and not the Criminal Code.

The first court had found Mr Holland guilty of defamation as listed in the Criminal Code after hearing how he had distributed leaflets referring to Mr Agius. The leaflets were distributed in the streets of Floriana in December 2004 when an election was held for a new mayor but no one won an absolute majority. Being the oldest of the candidates, Mr Agius was provisionally elected mayor until councillors cast their vote.

The Magistrates' Court had also heard that Mr Holland had distributed the leaflets because two Labour councillors were told by the Labour Party to vote for Mr Agius. This, Mr Holland had claimed, interfered with an independent election.

Mr Holland appealed the judgement and Mr Justice Galea Debono cleared him after finding he had been charged under the wrong law.