PN Leader Simon Busuttil has lost a libel case he had filed against l-Orizzont after a court dismissed his claims that the GWU newspaper was implying that his company had traded in influence.

Dr Busuttil had filed the libel suit against former editor Sandro Mangion over an editorial entitled ‘Trading in influence.’

The editorial spoke about revelations that a company Dr Busuttil was involved in until 2013, Europa Research and Consultancy Ltd, had been awarded direct orders amounting to around €1.2 million by previous PN administrations.

It had spoken of a number of companies that had resorted to the illegal practice of trading in influence and said Dr Busuttil should clarify whether the company was also involved in such practices.

The PN Leader also took exception to comments which attributed to him the argument that governments should favour direct orders over competitive processes so as to be able to make the best choice.

Dr Busuttil said the editorial was not your usual political commentary but rather an attack on his integrity. He wording of the editorial, he said, led people to conclude that illegalities had been carried out.  

But the defendant said the article was based on recently published information and was not implying that ER&C Ltd had acted illegally. In fact, Dr Busuttil was asked to issue a clarification on the matter. Mr Mangion also said that, as Opposition Leader, Dr Busuttil was subject to a harsher degree of scrutiny.

The court, presided over by Magistrate Francesco Depasquale, said the editorial was based on public information which was not being contested by Dr Busuttil. The plaintiff was only contesting the insinuation that his company was involved in an illegal practice.

The court noted that the editorial did not directly link Dr Busuttil or his company to any illegal practices. On the other hand it said Dr Busuttil should show that this is not the case. Instead of taking up the challenge and making a public clarification, the Opposition Leader had resorted to legal action. As such, the editorial could not be classified as libellous .