A criminal complaint against Maltese MP Rosianne Cutajar by Portuguese MEP Ana Gomes has been described as "frivolous" by the former.

Ms Gomes earlier this week asked Europol to investigate a website which, she said, had falsely claimed that she had murky ties to a global fraudster. She also asked the agency to investigate slander by Ms Cutajar for sharing the article on Facebook and reporting about it.

In a reaction sent to Europol on Friday, Ms Cutajar said it was ironic that Ms Gomes, who had made numerous allegations about Malta after relying on information by third parties, had now filed a criminal report against her simply because she had referred to an online article about her. 

In a legal reply signed by lawyer Edward Zammit Lewis, Ms Cutajar said the claims by Ms Gomes were unfounded and she had absolutely no link to the website which made the allegations.

Ms Cutajar said she had only mentioned the article in question and passed "a fair political comment" on MEP Gomes as a public person, something which was a fundamental right of every citizen in a democratic society.

She described the complaint as frivolous and vexatious and reserved the right to  initiate proceedings against Ms Gomes with regard to false reports and abusive acts. 

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