Five libel cases filed by Minister Konrad Mizzi over allegations arising out of the Panama Papers leak have been ceded.

When the cases were called earlier today Magistrate Francesco Depasquale declared that Mizzi had formally withdrawn the cases.

Two of the five libels had been filed against Daphne Caruana Galizia over claims she had made in her blog that a company owned by one of the daughters of Azerbaijani ruler Ilham Aliyev had made sizeable monetary transfers to Hearnville Inc, Tillgate Inc and Egrant Inc, under the guise of “loan payments.” The transfers had been made from Dubai- based Al Sahra FZCO, which is owned by Leyla Aliyeva, through the company’s account at Pilatus Bank, according to Caruana Galizia’s blog post.

Another two of the libel cases had been filed against former leader of the Opposition Simon Busuttil and the fifth had been filed against former PN Deputy Leader Beppe Fenech Adami.

The minister said last month that he had decided to withdraw the suits, following a court ruling against Busuttil and MEP David Casa in January, which had held that there were insufficient grounds to launch an inquiry into facts unearthed by the Panama Papers. Mizzi had subsequently released an official statement, telling them that they had “lost their political credibility,” despite not having to “shoulder a monetary cost for their lies.