Former PN general secretary loses libel suit against L-Orizzont

Former Nationalist Party general secretary Paul Borg Olivier has had a libel suit against Maltese daily newspaper L-Orizzont thrown out of court.  In a judgment passed on Monday morning, a magistrate's court declared that corruption was a matter of public interest and that allegations concerning it were to be “discussed and debated fully and freely.” Dr Borg Olivier had felt libelled by a front page article published in February 2013 titled “Between Facts and Interpretation”, just days before the March 10 general election. The article was based on an anonymous interview with someone claiming to have been very close to PN centres of power. The author of the article made reference to allegations which emerged in a libel case concerning former PN Sliema mayor Nicholas Dimech, who was suing Malta Today. Mr Dimech had recalled an episode back in July 2010 when the PN general secretary had allegedly called him over a tender regarding green waste, urging the mayor to award the contract to one particular bidder, namely Green MT. GreenMT is owned by the GRTU, whose director general - Vince Farrugia - was at the time a PN candidate. Mr Dimech had told the court that Dr Borg Olivier had...