4 KudoZ points awarded for this answer. Comment: "Thank you, Peter. I'm giving the points to Peter, because his answer is technically the most correct... But special award goes to Thomas, because I will probably actually end up using "defamation". The point is the people in power don't like what he's writing. The sympathy of the author of the passage clearly lies with Zola. "Missfirmelse" is in quotes as if it were trumped-up legal jargon for a bogus charge. 'Libel' sounds official and correct and seems to stand on the side of the court, whereas 'defamation' sounds a bit foggier and subjective, seems to leave a little more room and make it easier to side with Zola... "