Carmelo Abela must produce evidence that he did not aid HSBC robbers, court says

Minister Carmelo Abela has been ordered to exhibit evidence to sustain his rebuttal of allegations made by PN MP Jason Azzopardi linking him to the failed 2010 HSBC heist

Abela had sued Azzopardi for libel after the latter claimed in April that Abela had aided the mastermind behind the attempted hold up in return for a €300,000 payment.

Azzopardi’s accusation was made just days after Abela had publicly denied any involvement in the robbery which ended in a shoot-out with police. Abela had dismissed the alleged links as "stories, fairy tales and inntions".

During a brief sitting on Wednesday, the minister’s lawyer, Pawlu Lia, argued that since Azzopardi had made the allegations against Abela, it was up to him to prove them.

“Saying that the applicant is an accomplice in a hold-up, that he was promised €300,000 for his role, is not an opinion but an alleged fact,” said Lia, as the hearing began this morning.

Azzopardi was to either admit that he was wrong or else prove his assertions, the lawyer argued, concluding that it was not for the minister to prove that the allegations were untrue, Lia said.

Azzopardi’s lawyer, Joseph Zammit Maempel, retorted that a decision on the way forward was at the court’s discretion, not the applicant’s.

The court, having heard the submissions, rejected Abela’s request, stating that as it was the minister who had filed the libel case, therefore, it was up to him to present evidence proving the allegation was unfounded.

The case continues in July.

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