A court on Monday threw out a libel case against The Malta Independent on Sunday and columnist Daphne Caruana Galizia that had been instituted by Arlette Baldacchino.

Ms Baldacchino had taken exception to an article penned by Mrs Caruana Galizia, titled ‘What’s a nice girl like that doing there?’ in May 2006.  She had proceeded to file libel proceedings against then TMIS editor Noel Grima and Mrs Caruana Galizia.

But on Monday a court presided over by Magistrate Marse-Anne Farrugia dismissed the case and ordered Ms Baldacchino to pay legal expenses.

The article in question dates back six years and dealt with Ms Baldacchino’s involvement in the Viva Malta website, which is connected to the Norman Lowell and the anti-immigrant, far-right Imperium Europa group he spearheads.

In its ruling, the court referenced a European Court of Human Rights ruling (De Haes et v. Belgium, 1995), which noted “…the general interest in a public debate which has a serious purpose outweighs the legitimate aim of protecting the reputation of others, even if such debate involves the use of wounding and offensive language”.