Labour Party deputy leader Michael Falzon said he has issued two libel writs, one each against Malta Today on Sunday and Malta Today Mid-Week about a report and an editorial about him, which he said were full of lies, contradictions and twisting of facts, and which harmed his reputation.

They related to a claimed hunting trip in Romania.

While the legal procedures were being dealt with, Dr Falzon added, he was publicly asking the Commissioner for Data Protection to find out how a journalist had in his hands official documents of the Department of the Environment and Veterinary Service, as the journalist, Matthew Vella, had told him personally on the phone.

Dr Falzon said he also expected the Institute of Journalists to condemn the two newspapers which, on the pretext of freedom of the press, were being used to carry out an agenda of hatred and persecution against a section of the people and against some individuals.