The controversial criminal defamation case against PN MP Jason Azzopardi is expected to start today, and a number of people have taken to Facebook, showing their support for the PN MP.
The criminal complaint was filed by former police commissioner Peter Paul Zammit, a legal procurator.
This newsroom, among others, received a summons which included a hand written note on the bottom, saying that the case related to a press conference given in Floriana, which was given by Dr Azzopardi on 24 June 2015.
On the day, the Opposition MP had called for Mr Zammit's removal - at the time he was police chief - after a report by the Data Commissioner concluded that he (Zammit) had leaked a personal file of a police inspector to MaltaToday. Mr Zammit denies the accusation.
The issue has prompted the Nationalist Party to say that this is yet another attack on democracy. In a press conference given last week, Opposition Leader Simon Busuttil said this was the latest desperate attempt of a desperate government.
During his Sunday address, Dr Busuttil announced he will be in court in solidarity with MP Jason Azzopardi. He went over history of the case in question. In June 2015, he said, the Data Protection Commissioner judged that Mr PP Zammit had broken the law by allowing data about persons to reach third parties.
“The next day, Dr Azzopardi, speaking as an Opposition front bencher and not as a private citizen, gave a press conference and condemned the prime minister for keeping Mr Zammit as a police commissioner and for appointing him as CHOGM co-ordinator”.
“At that time, Mr Zammit was still Commissioner of Police and so it is not correct to say that he made a complaint with the police as a private citizen”.
“Mr Zammit asked the police to proceed against Dr Azzopardi and Dr Azzopardi has been summoned to appear on Wednesday (today)”.
Such things, Dr Busuttil said, do not take place in real democracies and the country must not let such things happen.
Sources close to the PN told this newsroom that after Dr Busuttil’s speech last Sunday, people have been showing solidarity with Dr Azzopardi.
This solidarity has even spilled onto Facebook. ““You can count on my family's unconditional support and solidarity Jason! Good Luck and God be with you and your family come next Wednesday afternoon!” one man wrote.
For its part, the government said that this was a case instituted by a private individual.
Dr Zammit was appointed police commissioner as soon as Labour was elected to power, but he relinquished the post a few months later and was appointed head of security for CHOGM.
Prime Minister Joseph Muscat, during the election campaign, had promised to abolish criminal libel but it is no longer a priority for the government.
Dr Muscat said earlier this week that there is no definite timeline for when the government will put forward a bill to remove criminal libel, adding that the Cabinet is currently discussing the issue. He also failed to condemn the criminal defamation case to be instituted by the former police chief against Nationalist MP Jason Azzopardi.
The situation then blew up and lured in European Political Parties the EPP (of which the PN forms part) and the S&D (of which the PL forms part).
EPP Group Chairman Manfred Weber said in a statement this evening of the Jason Azzopardi case: "This is simply not on. As an EU Member State, there are limits as to how far this Maltese Labour government can go in its insatiable quest for power with complete disregard to human rights. In a fully-fledged democracy dragging the Shadow Minister of Justice to court for something he had said in his capacity as Shadow Minister is unheard of.
S&D President Gianni Pittella said – “EPP Chairman Manfred Weber should not be part of the biased partisan games that his Nationalist colleagues in Malta are trying to play. The authoritarian route that Weber referred to was laid down by his Nationalist colleagues who spent 25 years in government and did nothing to repeal criminal libel laws. The Socialist and Democrat government on the other hand is legislating for more media freedom”.