Updated 4.30 with Jason Azzopardi reaction

Nationalist MP Jason Azzopardi was on Thursday fined €50 for not turning up in court for a libel case filed against him by Education Minister Owen Bonnici.

Bonnici had filed the case against Azzopardi after the latter called him a criminal on his Facebook page.

The court had, in February, ordered Azzopardi to appear in the next sitting but he was absent when he was called for the hearing on Thursday.

Magistrate Rachel Montebello fined Azzopardi €50 and postponed the sitting to October 8.

In a Facebook post Azzopardi said he meant no disrespect to the court but had simply forgotten about the sitting as he was busy with cases related to the Daphne Caruana Galizia muirder. He however looked forward to the next sitting.

Addressing the minister as 'Noddy' he said he would relish the next sitting and the evidence he would present. 

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