Daily ordered to pay Lm500 libel damages

Mr Justice Geoffrey Valenzia in the First Hall of the Civil Court yesterday ordered the editor and printer of the newspaper l-orizzont to pay Lm500 damages to Raymond Fenech after the court concluded that an article published in February 1995 was libellous.

Fenech had filed his writ claiming that he had been libelled by an article published on the front page of the newspaper under the heading Incident fl-Ajruport Internazzjonali ta' Malta: Security guard ighid li gie mhedded b'arma tan-nar (Malta International Airport incident: Security guard says he was threatened at gunpoint).

The newspaper pleaded that the article was based on fact that could be proven and was therefore not libellous.

In its judgment the court noted that the article reported how a security guard at the airport had claimed he had been threatened by a firearm. The article was based on a report filed by the security guard to the police.

Mr Justice Valenzia declared that in his testimony Fenech denied the contents of the article and also denied that he had threatened a security guard with a gun.

Fenech said the police had not found him in possession of any firearm. The police inspector who testified in the libel suit claimed that it resulted from investigations that there was an argument between Anthony Deguara, who was on guard duty at the airport, and Fenech who was the director of general cleaners.

The police had searched Fenech's car and his residence and had not found any weapon.

The court noted that the incident in question was of public interest and deserved to be reported in the newspapers. The facts as contained in the article were substantially correct.

However, the newspaper had not carried a fair and objective report for it had not interviewed Fenech and had accepted as true the version given by Deguara.

The court therefore concluded that the article was libellous.

The court ordered Frans Ghirxi, the newspaper's editor, to pay Lm400 in libel damages.

Antonio Busuttil, the newspaper's printer, was ordered to pay Lm100 in damages.

Mr Justice Valenzia dismissed Fenech's request for the publication of this judgment on the front page of l-orizzont for the publication of a declaration or explanation could not take place after a libel suit was decided upon.