Comments made by Labour MPs Chris Cardona and Evarist Bartolo at the height of the oil procurement scandal on a Maltese-styled clock donated to then Finance Minister Tonio Fenech were not libelous, a court said today. p>Mr Fenech had sued after the MPs had claimed the clock was worth over €5,000.

The clock was given to Mr Fenech by George Farrugia, who was given a presidential pardon to reveal what he knew of the scandal.

Dr Bartolo had also claimed that Mr Farrugia had personally handed the gift to Mr Fenech, by visiting his home. 

Mr Fenech testified that the clock had been given to him by Mr Farrugia's brother, Raymond, and had been manufactured by the wife of the latter.

He could not remember the exact date of the donation, but  said it was not while he was minister responsible for Enemalta. 

In its decision the court referred to the testimony of former police commissioner John Rizzo who said that during the investigation it had transpired that Power Plan Limited - a company owned by the Farrugia brothers - had sponsored the expenses of this clock. Mr Rizzo had testified that he had not taken action against George Farrugia, as the latter insisted that the donation was not a form of bribery. 

On his part George Farrugia, testified that he had been asked by his brother Raymond, to accompany him to the minister's house, but insisted that he knew nothing of the donation until the very last moment. According to Raymond Farrugia's wife, the clock was worth about €1,200.

Both Dr Cardona and Mr Bartolo insisted that their message was not centred on the value of the clock itself, but that the donation had been made from persons involved in the oil procurement scandal.

In its decision the court  said that it could not understand how Mr Fenech could have felt aggrieved, as all the facts were correct with the exception of the clock's value. As (then) Opposition MPs both Mr Bartolo and Dr Cardona had every right and the duty to divulge such information to the people. The fact that the clock's value was not precise, though not exaggeratedly off their mark, is not enough to find the Labour MPs guilty of defamation, the court said.