Jason Azzopardi claims OPM official asked him to withdraw magisterial inquiries or face consequences

Former Nationalist MP and lawyer Jason Azzopardi claimed he was warned by an Office of the Prime Minister official to withdraw a number of applications for a magisterial inquiry, allegedly on the instructions of Prime Minister Robert Abela.

Testifying under oath, Azzopardi said this was the first time he was publicly disclosing the incident. He told the court that during the first week of January 2025, he received a phone call, he could not recall whether via Signal or WhatsApp, from a childhood friend who works at the OPM.

The call, he said, was not made over a regular line.

During cross-examination, Azzopardi confirmed that he had not filed a police report over what he perceived as a threat, explaining that he did not wish to reveal the identity of his intermediary. Asked whether there had been any way to report the incident without disclosing the source, he replied in the negative, stating that criminal proceedings could not proceed without corroborating evidence.

The lawyer was testifying in proceedings over a judicial protest filed by NGO Repubblika claiming government’s magisterial inquiry reform breaches Malta’s constitution, European Union law and citizens' rights.

According to Azzopardi, the individual told him he had a message to deliver on behalf of the Prime Minister. The two agreed to meet in person at around 10 pm outside the Capuchin church in Għajn Dwieli.

During that meeting, Azzopardi said, the man told him that Abela wanted him to withdraw five pending constitutional applications he had filed in December which mentioned a number government ministers including Silvio Schembri and Clint Camilleri.

Azzopardi testified that the messenger added that, should he refuse, “the developers would sue him for damages.”

In response, Azzopardi said he told the messenger to relay his “exact words” back to the Prime Minister, adding that “he would not be intimidated.”

The former Nationalist MP claimed this encounter took place on “a Wednesday or Thursday of the first week of January.” Days later, on Sunday 12 January, Prime Minister Abela announced that the government would amend the law regulating magisterial inquiries. The first reading for the amendment was filed two days later, Azzopardi claimed.

Azzopardi described the proposed legislation, Bill No. 125, as ad hominem, arguing that it directly affected his pending cases.

He referred in particular to a government amendment proposed on 26 March during the Committee for the Consideration of Bills, which set the cut-off date for applicability as “all cases still pending when the law enters into force”, a clause that would capture three of his pending appeals.

Lawyers Eve borg Costanzi and Matthew Cutajar appeared for Repubblika, and lawyer Carina Bugeja Testa for State Advocate Chris Soler.