Jason Azzopardi tells Daphne Caruana Galizia vigil of Labour minister’s Portomaso scene

An unnamed former Labour minister had been involved in a heated argument with a "leading businessman" at Portomaso just after Yorgen Fenech was outed as the owner of 17 Black, Jason Azzopardi has claimed. 

The former Nationalist MP was speaking at a vigil commemorating Daphne Caruana Galizia in Valletta organised by Repubblika on Thursday.

He told the crowd that the same former minister overturned the businessman's office table in a rage after finding out that his signature had been forged on some documents. 

Azzopardi did not elaborate further. 

He also spoke of another instance when a former minister had attempted to remotely delete his cloud storage data after his mobile phone was seized by the police.

“Do you know, for example, that when a former minister’s mobile phone was seized from his home, on the order of an inquiring magistrate, who as soon as he realised that the police were there, had tried to delete many things from his mobile phone’s cloud storage and that the Inspector had to literally push him on to the sofa to take the device out of his hands?” Azzopardi said.

“What did this former minister want to hide that Angelo Gafa is still protecting?” the former MP said.

As one of the lawyers representing the family of murdered journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia, as well as representing Repubblika in their many court cases, Azzopardi is one of a tiny group of individuals privy to the evidence uncovered in several investigations and magisterial inquiries. Most of that evidence is not available to the public. However, a source close to the Daphne Caruana Galizia murder case has confirmed to the MaltaToday that the allegations made by Azzopardi do not stem from the evidence in the murder case.

“Do you know, for example, that after a search was carried out two years ago in the course of a Magisterial Inquiry into very serious facts, a polite threat was delivered to a foreign court-appointed expert, in his hotel room in Malta? “ Azzopardi told the crowd, repeating an allegation that he had made on Facebook earlier this year. 

Azzopardi rejected the “elitist” label often used by Repubblika’s critics. “But what I do know is that there is a big difference between making a genuine mistake and, as a minister, being complicit in money laundering. Between making a genuine mistake and, as a public official, being complicit in helping a murderer evade capture."

"Between a genuine mistake and, as a public official, being an accomplice in a murder. Between a genuine mistake and, as a public official, being an accomplice in three hold ups. Between making a genuine mistake and, as a public official accepting a monthly €30,000 bribe on a recent public contract. Between making a genuine mistake and, as a public official making an agreement to receive bribes for 18 years in a public contract paid for by the workers. Between making a genuine mistake and, as a public official, commuting a 20-year prison sentence handed to a robber over a hold up and shootings. There is a big difference between not being perfect and being a thief and a murderer.”

In his speech, the lawyer also paid tribute to those police officers and members of the judiciary who were carrying out their duties without fear or favour.  “Much remains to be done and to be known,” Azzopardi said. 

The road ahead was a long and difficult one, he warned, adding “but the harder it is, the bigger the challenge, the greater is our determination to get there.”

Courage did not mean the absence of fear but the ability to overcome fear, he said, encouraging all citizens to “carry out their ordinary duty to the country in an extraordinary way.”