Lawyer Arthur Azzopardi sues Simon Mercieca over murder claims

Lawyer Arthur Azzopardi has filed a libel case against Simon Mercieca, over an article published by Mercieca claiming that he and Darren Debono were indicated as masterminding the murder of Daphne Caruana Galizia. 

The allegations are defamatory, reads the lawyer’s court application, and had been “published maliciously to seriously damage his reputation and incite public hatred towards him.” 

Azzopardi had represented Vince Muscat before dropping the brief when Muscat was charged in connection with the plot.  

Arthur Azzopardi was recently mentioned in cross-examination by lawyer William Cuschieri, in which the lawyer suggested that Azzopardi and another individual had offered Muscat €300,000 for Caruana Galizia’s murder. Both Azzopardi and Muscat denied this suggestion, Muscat under oath. 

This notwithstanding, Mercieca, a University lecturer, uploaded a blogpost on March 17, titled “Arthur and Darren Debono are indicated as the Masterminds of Daphne Caruana Galizia’s murder.” 

Last October, Simon Mercieca was accused of contempt of court over his publication of recordings to his Facebook page in defiance of a court order prohibiting their publication. His case continues in January. 

Clarification: A previous version of this report wrongly stated that Arthur Azzopardi was questioned in connection with the murder. He had been called in for questioning on an unrelated case involving fuel smuggling that involved clients of his.