Former Nationalist MP and lawyer Jason Azzopardi testified under oath that an official from the Office of the Prime Minister (OPM) warned him to withdraw several applications for magisterial inquiries, allegedly following instructions from Prime Minister Robert Abela.

Azzopardi said this was the first time he was publicly disclosing the incident. He recounted receiving a phone call in the first week of January 2025 from a childhood friend employed at the OPM. The call, made via Signal or WhatsApp, was not through a regular phone line.

He testified that the official told him he had a message to deliver on behalf of the Prime Minister, and the two agreed to meet around 10pm outside the Capuchin church in Għajn Dwieli. During that meeting, Azzopardi said, the official told him that Abela wanted him to withdraw five constitutional applications he had filed in December, which mentioned government ministers Silvio Schembri and Clint Camilleri.

According to Azzopardi, the messenger added that if he refused, "the developers would sue him for damages". Azzopardi said he told the man to inform the Prime Minister that "he would not be intimidated".

The lawyer said the encounter took place on a Wednesday or Thursday in early January. A few days later, on Sunday, 12 January, Prime Minister Abela announced plans to amend the law regulating magisterial inquiries. Two days after that, the first reading of the amendment was tabled in Parliament.

Azzopardi described the proposed Bill No. 125 as an ad hominem measure that directly affected his pending cases. He highlighted a government amendment introduced on 26 March during the Committee for the Consideration of Bills, which made the law applicable to "all cases still pending when the law enters into force," a clause that would encompass three of his ongoing appeals.

He confirmed under cross-examination that he had not filed a police report about what he perceived as a threat, explaining that he wished to protect the identity of his intermediary. When asked whether the matter could be reported without revealing his source, Azzopardi said it was not possible since criminal proceedings require corroborating evidence.

The testimony came during proceedings on a judicial protest filed by NGO Repubblika, which claims the government's magisterial inquiry reform breaches Malta's constitution, EU law, and citizens' rights. Lawyers Eve Borg Costanzi and Matthew Cutajar appeared for Repubblika, while Carina Bugeja Testa represented State Advocate Chris Soler.