Far right leader Norman Lowell has filed an appeal after a court earlier this month rejected his claim that he was defamed by a series of articles published by Malta Today in May 2006.

These included an editorial about allegations that Mr Lowell had been involved in an arson attack on the house of columnist Daphne Caruana Galizia, where he had been described as an "arsonist", "neo-Nazi" and "bastard".

The Imperium Europa leader had filed a libel suit claiming three articles published in the same edition contained false and libelous information aimed at tainting his reputation. 

In his sentence, Magistrate Francesco Depasquale had noted that Mr Lowell harboured harsh views on migration and those involved in the defence of immigrant rights. By right, therefore these views certainly evoked a similar harsh reaction against him and his organisation, the court had said.

While noting that as a politician, Mr Lowell was subject to public scrutiny and criticism, the court held that his comments on the media were not acceptable in a democratic society, where diversity and multiculturalism formed the foundations of Maltese society.

In his appeal filed by lawyer Emmy Bezzina, the far right leader argued that the court did not address the content of the articles to determine whether they were libellous or not, but based its judgment on other matters, thus going beyond the merits of this case.

He also contested the court's ruling which deemed the views expressed in the articles as a "fair comment" saying such conclusion was not consistent with another ruling also given by Magistrate Depasquale, a few days later in a libel case filed by Julia Farrugia against Ms Caruana Galizia. In the latter case, Ms Caruana Galizia had been found guilty of libel and ordered to pay €3,000 in damages over a series of articles and comments in her blog.