Magistrate's lawyer calls for protection order

An additional bench had to be brought into the courtroom to accommodate the crowd following the first sitting yesterday of a case in which columnist Daphne Caruana Galizia is accused of defaming and harassing a magistrate.

The seating reserved for the public was taken up by police officers, lawyers and some court ushers, including that of Magistrate Consuelo Scerri Herrera, who Ms Caruana Galizia is accused of defaming with a series of blogs she has been writing since late January.

Then, just as the case started to get under way, One TV journalist Charlon Gouder, who was reporting the sitting, and former Labour Party general secretary Jason Micallef, who was among the public, were asked to leave the court room as they are potential witnesses.

Their presence was flagged by Ms Caruana Galizia's lawyer Roberto Montalto.

Mr Gouder said he was never notified that he might be a witness and pointed out that he was there to report the proceedings.

Mr Micallef also informed the court he was not on the list of witnesses but Magistrate Antonio Micallef Trigona asked both men to leave because they could be called to testify.

Both of them, and a string of Labour officials, featured in the blog entries about the magistrate, who Ms Caruana Galizia heavily criticised for leading a lifestyle which, she said, was inappropriate for a person in her position.

Ms Caruana Galizia pleaded not guilty to defaming the magistrate in violation of the Press Act and harassing her. If found guilty, she faces up to a year in prison and a fine.

At the start of the sitting, Dr Montalto raised two preliminary pleas, claiming that the magistrate could not be represented by a private lawyer because she was a public person. He also noted that there were secondary proceedings instituted over the same blog entries.

In fact, a second set of defamation charges was filed following a report by Magistrate Scerri Herrera's partner, Robert Musumeci, who was also targeted in the blog.

Dr Montalto complained that his client would be tried twice for the same alleged crime if both proceedings were to proceed.

Lawyer Steve Tonna Lowell, appearing for Dr Scerri Herrera, dismissed the arguments as "nothing but a red herring". He insisted there was nothing in the law that prohibited the magistrate from being represented by a private lawyer, adding that he would rebut the second point in the next sitting.

Towards the end of the sitting, Police Inspector Sandro Camilleri asked the magistrate to issue a protection order on behalf of Magistrate Scerri Herrera.

Such an order would have seen Ms Caruana Galizia barred from writing anything further about the subject.

The officer pointed out that the "crimes" had continued but the argument was shot down by

Dr Montalto, who argued that the prosecuting officer was throwing the principle of presumption of innocence out of the window.

He added there was nothing that the magistrate needed to be protected from.

Magistrate Micallef Trigona said he would decide on all the points on Monday.