Answer:
a. Bastiaan Vanacker wins a libel suit , Sebastian Van Akker loses.
Explanation:
Libel is where a defamatory statement has been published and that statement is false, this will result in the person able to claim libel charges.
This means that if information about someone is publicised (specially a private figure) for any criminal act and which could lead to damage that person's reputation seriously without any proper evidence or even false evidence then this would become ground for a libel case.
Such as in this case where a journalist reported that Bastiaan Vanacker was arrested for indecent exposure even though this was not really the case. As confirmed through the police report which the journalist had misread. This libel suit filed by Bastiaan Vanacker would be won, as his reputation has been damaged to the falsely alleged report published in the newspaper.
However, in the case of Sebastian Van Akker, who had actually committed the crime and no information was mentioned about him in the newspaper, will lose the libel suit filed. This is due to the fact that he was not defamed for any act which he himself had not conducted.
