Norman Lowell, the leader of the far-right Imperium Europa, has filed a libel suit against the editor of Maltatoday and two journalists over three articles that appeared in the weekly in what he believed was a "coordinated and malicious strategy" against him.
Mr Lowell filed the suit in the Magistrates' Court against editor Saviour Balzan and journalists Kurt Sansone and Matthew Vella.
The suit singled out three articles, one of which was an editorial, published on May 14, that was about allegations that Mr Lowell was involved in an arson attack on the house of columnist Daphne Caruana Galizia.
The items in question were a front-page piece written by Mr Sansone entitled "Arsonists attack Daphne on same night Norman Lowell organises BBQ", a story by Mr Vella titled "Lowell's neo-nazis hit out at press after arson attack" and the editorial under the heading "Get the bastards now, before it is too late".
Mr Lowell claimed that the articles contained false and libellous information aimed at tainting his reputation. The articles also put him in danger when it was alleged that he was involved in the arson attack against Mrs Caruana Galizia, that he was a neo-nazi and a person who instigated racist violence, that he was a "bastard" and a threat to democracy, he argued.
In a 22-page sworn statement attached to the suit and written in a blend of Maltese and English, he explained that he filed the suit five months after the paper was issued because "the truth is that I am a very tolerant person".
It was not right, he added, that as the "main exponent of freedom of expression and opinion" he would not tolerate others. However, in light of consequences of the articles, he was forced to ask his lawyer, Emmy Bezzina, to initiate libel proceedings and was expecting maximum damages to be awarded to him.
He added that he thought the newspaper issue in question was a "disgusting and dangerous edition" that breached the concept of freedom of expression and opinion and was nothing but "a ganging up on my personality and integrity".
Mr Lowell signed off his statement with the words "This is Norman Lowell", written in Maltese with the name in upper case.