A sitting in the libel case filed by the now independent MP Rosianne Cutajar against author Mark Camilleri was postponed on Thursday after Cutajar – who was due to testify during the sitting – did not attend due to medical reasons.

Cutajar had sued Camilleri over a Facebook post in which the author and former book council chief alleged that the MP had accepted payment from Yorgen Fenech in return for her defending him from corruption allegations while criticising the investigative work carried out by Daphne Caruana Galizia.

Fenech is awaiting trial after being charged with masterminding Caruana Galizia’s assassination.

The Facebook post amplified a claim that Camilleri had made in his book A Rent-seeker's Paradise, in which he stated that Fenech had been involved in an intimate relationship with Cutajar.

Camilleri claimed in his writing that Fenech "gave her corrupt money on the pretence she had helped him broker a property deal".

The excerpt reads: "While Cutajar was enjoying her time with Fenech at work, she was pouring scorn on Daphne's memory both in parliament and abroad. Cutajar also opposed and challenged those who called for public inquiries into Daphne's murder whilst defending and apologising for the corruption of the Muscat government even after the 17 Black revelations."

After the case had been filed, Camilleri had published a full transcript of unedited WhatsApp conversations between Fenech and Cutajar on his website, laying bare the lurid details of the pair’s relationship.

The chats were labelled as a “misogynistic attack” by the government, but Cutajar later resigned from the Labour Party’s parliamentary group only hours before she was set to be kicked out by the party’s executive.

She remains in Parliament as an independent MP.

Police meanwhile are investigating Camilleri for making documents which were subject to a court ban public.  The author has said that he has moved out of Malta.

Cutajar had also failed to attend the previous sitting, which was soon after the chats were leaked.

The case had been adjourned to Thursday morning for Cutajar's testimony.

However when the case was called, her lawyers Edward Gatt and Mark Vassallo informed Magistrate Rachel Montebello that their client was unable to attend for medical reasons, exhibiting a doctor’s note to this effect.

Cutajar has recently announced that she is expecting a child.