New | Melania Trump sues Slovenian journalist over ‘escort’ claims

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Melania Trump (C), wife of Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump, arrives for the grand opening ceremony at the new Trump International Hotel in Washington, DC. Photo: AFP

Published: 5:22am, 3 Nov 2016

Melania Trump, wife of US Republican presidential hopeful Donald Trump, is suing a Slovenian journalist for defamation over claims that she previously worked with an escort agency, her attorney said Wednesday.

The suit, filed last Friday at a court in the capital Ljubljana, accuses journalist Tomaz Mihelic of defamation as well as making false and unverified statements against the Slovenian-born former model.

The claims were published in Slovenian celebrity magazine Suzy in August and repeated in Britain’s Daily Mail newspaper, in which Mihelic was interviewed under the fake initials S.S.

“The claim according to which Mrs Trump allegedly worked as an escort of wealthy men strongly damaged Mrs Trump’s reputation as a businesswoman and as the wife of businessman and presidential candidate Donald Trump,” attorney Natasa Pirc Musar said in a statement sent to AFP.

Melania Trump, wife of Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump, looks on as her husband is interviewed following the grand opening ceremony at the new Trump International Hotel. Photo: AFP

She added that the claims had tarnished her client’s reputation “not only in Slovenia, where the magazine is published, but, due to her position and exposure at the time, also on a world scale.”