Former MP Jeffrey Pullicino Orlando has been ordered to pay €1,000 in libel damages to lawyers Andrew Borg Cardona and Peter Caruana Galizia after finding that a Facebook post he uploaded a few days before the last general election was libelous.

The post read: "Columnist and blogger Daphne Caruana Galizia's husband, Peter Caruana Galizia and consultant and columnist Andrew Borg Cardona, receive a contract of €542,280 for the services of their company, from the General Contracts Department, just two weeks before the general election."

The lawyers had denied the claim.

The court found that the contract was actually awarded to Evolve Limited. BCGL Services Ltd, in which the lawyers were involved, had a minority stake as a fiduciary services company, acting as a trustee for somebody else.

Dr Caruana Galizia was secretary of Evolve Ltd for administrative reasons and was not involved in its running and decision-making.

Therefore, the court said, it had been proved that the two lawyers were not the ones who had been awarded the government contract.

The court also noted that the comment was removed from Facebook.

It however rejected Dr Pullicino Orlando's argument that he had made a political comment, saying the lawyers were not politicians and the right for freedom of expression was not a licence to tarnish anybody's reputation.