Toni Bezzina wins libel case against l-Orizzont
An appeals court yesterday ruled that which was published in lOrizzont was libellous and ordered the newspaper to pay €300 to PN MP Toni Bezzina.
The libel case was on an article published on 30 May 2012 and entitled: “Ebda Investigazzjoni tal-Pulizija s’issa fuq il-kaz Toni Bezzina” (No police investigation yet on Toni Bezzina case).
The article stated that Toni Bezzina had asked government workers in the last administration to sign an affidavit stating that they didn’t do any work on the PN club, “when in fact they did”. The article also alleged that the work took place during working hours.
In a statement, Mr Bezzina said that the ruling vindicated him and exposed the lies that were said about him in the past months. He said that what the Labour Party and its media allies had said about him was an attempt to tarnish his integrity. Mr Bezzina said that the lies have continued on other matters in the past weeks, over which he has also instituted libel proceedings. He said he now expects those who lied against him to shoulder their responsibilities and apologise.
The PL, on the other hand, said the judgement confirmed the facts it had exposed, namely that Mr Bezzina had sent three public workers to carry out works on the Zurrieq PN club, and that they carried out the works during their normal working hours. They had also used government vehicles.
The court, the PL said, had also confirmed that the PN MP had asked the workers to sign an affidavit and took them to a notary of his choice.